Sustainability management at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels
About this good practice
What is the problem addressed and the context which triggered the introduction of the practice? In 2019 we measured the amount of waste in the stadium which generated 140 tonnes of waste, this is massive! There were of course some easy improvements to be made. For example, we had:
- No sorting bins
- We didn’t use reusable cups
- No Eco teams
The waste disposal represented a huge cost for the City. The first goal of the City was to reduce the workload and give more responsibilities to the organizers who came to the stadium to organize their events. In 2019, the organizers were not in charge of the waste management in the stadium, they organized the event and they left. The stadium was very dirty and the City had to clean after them.
How does the practice reach its objectives and how it is implemented? The implementation of the good practice began in 2020. After the first measurement of waste in the stadium, we’ve sent the public procurement contract to get sorting bins and ashtrays. For the ashtrays, we’ve concluded a contract with a company which gets back and recycle the cigarette butts. In the same time, we’ve met the organizers of major events to suggest them solutions to improve sorting inside and outside the stadium and we’ve adapted the contracts.
We arrive in 2022, we launch a communication campaign to raise public awareness of good sorting practices. Now, we are still working on different projects and the next challenge is to use only reusable food plates
Resources needed
Employees :
- 1 Prosport employee
- 1 Fost Plus
- 1 Brussels-Clean
- 1 Brussels-Environment
- 6 workers to install the equipment
Financial costs :
- Sorting bins : 43.219,69€ HTVA
- Ashtrays : 9.700€ HTVA + 1.440€/year emptying and recycling
- Communication campaign : 200.000€ HTVA
Evidence of success
We wanted to know if the sorting, the communication campaign and everything we’ve implemented worked well. So we did waste sorting analysis. It was separated in two pieces :
- Inside the stadium
- Outside the stadium
We’ve analysed 3 waste fractions:
- 1st fraction: inside the stadium o PMC > 350kg (140 bags) o Residuals > 350kg (35 bags)
- 2nd fraction: outdoor waste in bins > 250kg
- 3rd fraction: outdoor waste on the ground > 250kg
Potential for learning or transfer
The positive aspects in the project were :
- The good collaboration with local and regional partners
- The good collaboration with experts
- The funding received to complete the project
- The organizers played the game to the full
- The change in people's behavior
We are still working on new projects to do even better than today :
- We want to create a waste sorting in the stadium to organize better the collect of waste (it should be done for May 2024)
- Organic waste sorting
- Reusable tableware