FIFA to apply waste management concept at World Cup
Organising a big sporting event involves dealing not only with participants, spectators and volunteers, but also with waste generated by all of them. At this year's World Cup, FIFA will apply waste management concept to mitigate any adverse impact on the environment created by the tournament.
FIFA and the Russian Local Organising Committee (LOC) are going to organise tailor-made waste collection and recycling processes at all official sites and events of the upcoming World Cup, says EUobserver. The organisers also prepared communication tools to inform and motivate spectators to dispose of their waste consciously.
''Waste accumulation affects the environment negatively polluting soil, water and air. As for past FIFA World Cups, our aim is to mitigate any adverse impact created by our tournaments. The concept that we are implementing together with the LOC is adapted to local circumstances and will help us achieve a more sustainable FIFA World Cup in Russia," commented Federico Addiechi, FIFA's head of Sustainability & Diversity.
FIFA and the Russian LOC have developed a comprehensive Sustainability Strategy intended to ensure that this year's event will have the minimum negative and maximum positive impact on people, the economy and the environment. The strategy, which is based on international standards and experiences from past FIFA World Cups, consists of activities at the regional, national and global level and includes a waste management concept. According to this concept, a segregated waste collection system will be introduced: recyclables (materials suitable for secondary use and processing) will be collected separately from non-recyclable waste.
The recycling concept was already applied during the preliminary draw for this year's cup in St Petersburg in 2015. Recyclable waste, such as paper, cardboard, cans, PET and glass, was collected separately at all venues of the draw. Besides, more than three tonnes of decorations were later reused for other events. A lecture encouraging taking a responsible attitude towards nature and the environment was organised for children.
Last year, the same initiative to segregate recyclable material from general waste was successfully applied at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. As a result, almost 90 tonnes of glass, PET, aluminium, paper and cardboard were separated and recycled.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup takes place from 14 June to 15 July 2018 in 11 Russian cities including Kazan. The capital of Tatarstan will host four matches of the cup.