ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena announced Monday that they have diverted more than 1,033,716 pounds of waste from landfills throughout its Hawks' basketball games, concerts and other events in 2021.
According to a release, an average of 90% of its waste is being diverted on any event day at the sports and entertainment venue. Back in 2019, only 10% was being diverted in 2019.
The sustainability changes were made in an effort for State Farm Arena to become a zero-waste venue.
“As we continue our journey of becoming the first TRUE certified zero-waste venue in sports and live entertainment, diverting more than one million pounds in a calendar year is an incredible feat and brings us that much closer to our goal,” Hawks and State Farm Arena Director of Sustainability and Operations Sofi Armenakian said. “We are extremely proud of the efforts and our partners, Novelis, Levy and Pritchard, who play an important role in achieving such a milestone in 2021.”
Below is a breakdown of the materials, food and other items that have been diverted from landfills:
- 365,290 pounds of materials (composted)
- 165,623 pounds of bottles and food containers (recycled)
- 68,630 pounds of construction and demolition material (recycled: wood, metal, insulation, carpet, etc.)
- 122,125 pounds of cardboard (recycled)
- 49,565 pounds of glass (recycled)
- 11,281 pounds of aluminum (recycled)
- 3,194 pounds of plastic film (recycled)
- 5,827 pounds of furniture and appliances (recycled and donated)
- 5,872 pounds of food– approximately 5,000 meals (donated by Hawks)
- 3,576 pounds of old retail merchandise (donated by Hawks)
- Total: 1,033,716 pounds of materials (recycled, donated, composted or reused)
Since last summer, the Hawks and State Farm Arena have worked closely with Novelis, a leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, to organize, sort and recycle these materials.
“Achieving more than one million pounds diverted from landfills this quickly is awe-inspiring,” Novelis EVP & North American President Tom Boney said. “We’re excited to get more infinitely recyclable aluminum cups and cans into fans’ hands and further reinforce the value of recycling these products. Playing this role in the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena’s sustainability journey is an honor for us. This is one of many reasons why Novelis is proud to call Atlanta home.”