Serco delivered cleaning, grounds and waste management services at a number of stadiums in Australia, including Accor Stadium in Homebush NSW, CommBank Stadium in Parramatta NSW, Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville QLD, University of Tasmania Stadium, and Industree Group Stadium in Gosford NSW.
When a stadium was at capacity, it takes teamwork, communication and exceptional attention to detail to keep the venue clean, safe and running smoothly. Whether it's a sell-out concert, football grand final or a three-day expo, our dedicated stadium and venues team understood what it takes to keep large crowds happy and events running smoothly.
Waste management was crucial to providing a positive experience for patrons and keeping a stadium clean during an event. But did you know that one major event at a large stadium can generate more than 20 tonnes of waste?
As part of our commitment to supporting our clients to deliver on their sustainability goals, our Venues and Stadiums teams have introduced dedicated recycling streams and manually sort waste to reduce the volume of waste that goes to landfill.
At one stadium we increased recycling from 44% of total waste to 77.96% between September 2014 and September 2021, diverting 2,557.57 tonnes from landfill during that period.
At another stadium we increased recycling of total waste from 0% in March 2019 to 61.11% in September 2021, diverting 739.67 tonnes from landfill in total.
Collaboration with retailers, caterers and kitchen managers was key to our success.
Retail vendors supported the environmental drive by switching food packaging to corn and bamboo based products.
In addition to waste and recycling bins in public areas, extra bins were placed around the stadium to separately capture plastic and glass bottles and cans, cardboard and food waste.
In corporate and back-of-house areas, secure paper, metal, wooden and plastic pallets and cooking oil are also recycled. Food and grass waste is sent away to be turned into compost.
To create an even greater return for our client, we recycled cans and containers through the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS). Refunds generated through the Container Deposit Scheme can exceed $8,000 per event and are donated by our client to charity.