St. Louis CITY SC kicked off its inaugural Major League Soccer season just two years ago and has since been scoring points not only on the field, but also within the local community. With a commitment to green efforts in and around the stadium district by recycling, composting, food rescue and practicing energy conservation, the team partners with various educational, business and community organizations to enhance and implement shared goals of environmental sustainability. As a participant in the 2024 St. Louis Green Business Challenge, St. Louis CITY SC captured the Clean Air Partnership’s attention with its internal green practices that helped earn them recognition at the Champion Level.
Over the course of the Challenge, St. Louis CITY SC elected to report on its Champion Innovation Project “Goal: ZERO,” which was designed to reduce landfill waste and single-use plastics throughout the stadium with an emphasis on composting and recycling. For the 2024 MLS season, Energizer Park (formerly CITYPARK) diverted an impressive 90.3 percent of waste – 92 tons of material – from local landfills over 21 home matches. Of the overall waste generated, 48 percent was comprised of compost materials, 24 percent was considered mixed recycling, and another 20 percent was recycled aluminum.
“Driven by our club’s vision to be an Exceptional Club and Neighbor, we set an ambitious sustainability target of ‘Goal: ZERO’ this year, to run-waste-free MLS matches by diverting towards composting, recycling, and reuse,” said Diego Gigliani, president and general manager of St. Louis CITY SC. “By delivering on this pledge, we have both led the way for sustainable sporting events across our industry and inspired our fan and community to do their part in their homes, workplaces, and schools.”
During the Challenge year, St. Louis CITY SC worked with its Official Sustainability Partner YETI to establish a first-of-its-kind policy in MLS and across professional sports, allowing fans to bring a previously purchased CITY-branded YETI 24 oz. rambler into the stadium for unlimited soft drink and water refills to help reduce the use of single-use aluminum cups. Additional concessions-based, eco-friendly initiatives included serving food in compostable containers with compostable utensils, in addition to serving all drinks in recyclable aluminum cans, bottles and cups.
Other notable recognitions included the soccer stadium receiving a Play to Zero Award from the Green Sports Alliance for its Goal: ZERO program. The honor celebrates innovations in sustainability and highlights achievements across different categories such as Waste Player, Energy Champion and Innovation Award. Moreover, St. Louis CITY SC produced a promotional video with active players to educate fans on how the stadium sorts all trash by hand, ensuring diversion to compost and recycling instead of landfill disposal, which is also a big win for regional air quality!
For more information about St. Louis CITY SC and how your organization can get involved in the Green Business Challenge, subscribe to their bi-monthly E-Newsletter or visit stlouisgreenchallenge.com. For more on the link between sustainability and air quality, explore our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @gatewaycleanair.
