Red Sox Hit Home Run with Sustainability
The Boston Red Sox have made tremendous progress in greening their game. With the help of Waste Management, they introduced several sustainability improvements at Fenway Park and moved to a single-stream recycling solution. Fans will recognize the blue recycling bins throughout the park.
In 2012 almost 400 tons of materials were diverted and recycled. Waste Management takes recyclables from Fenway Park to their sorting facility in Avon, Massachusetts where they are recycled into new clothes, cardboard, cans and bottles.
By 2015 the Red Sox received the coveted Recycler of the Year Award by MassRecycle, as trash was reduced by 37 tons and single-stream recycling increased by 41 tons. Also, the first ever post-event waste sorting following the summer concert series resulted in 58 percent waste diversion of the 10,526 pounds of trash sorted.
A composting system to accommodate food waste from Fenway’s three primary kitchens and Fenway Park suites also recovered an additional 31 tons of organic waste for compost.
Overall, 398 tons of material were diverted from landfills, and 914 tons of waste were converted to energy.
Waste Management provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading innovator of waste-to-energy and landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. This conserved 1.5 million kWh of electricity and reduced emissions of 843 metric tons of CO2, enough to power 145 homes for a year and equivalent to removing 177 cars off the Boston’s streets.
Composting
Together with food management partner Aramark, Waste Management implemented a composting system to handle biodegradable ballpark food waste – like hot dogs, nachos, and maybe even Cracker Jacks. The food waste is turned into organic compost.
Waste-to-Energy Plant
What isn’t recycled or composted is hauled to a waste-to-energy plant in Saugus, Massachusetts. The Saugus waste-to-energy facility generates a renewable energy and delivers clean electricity to the local utility. With a generating capacity of 38 megawatts the facility produces enough energy to supply 47,000 Massachusetts homes.
Do your part!
If you’re a Red Sox fan who’d like to help collect recyclables through the seventh inning, click here.