Charlotte’s Zero-Waste Program Is Better Than Most College Stadiums
Picture yourself inside the Charlotte 49ers’ Jerry Richardson Stadium. In addition to taking in the sights and sounds of college football, you grab some food and a drink from the concession stands. You enjoy both, and on the way back to your seat, you toss the trash — perhaps never thinking about it again.
That moment is just one part of the zero-waste process — a program in place since 2013 and one that Charlotte executes better than most college stadiums.
While the name “zero waste” implies that no trash from a stadium goes to waste, the accepted definition is aiming to divert at least 90% of waste from landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates the national average for communities is 32% diversion of solid waste. As a whole, UNC Charlotte’s diversion rate is only slightly better than the national average. The zero-waste stadium initiative is an effort to move the needle at the University and beyond.
Charlotte’s zero-waste program began when the University broke ground on Jerry Richardson Stadium and the Student Government Association passed a resolution calling for the new facility to meet that standard.
Shannon Caveny-Cox, zero-waste coordinator, has been involved — both officially and unofficially — since the start. She says the program’s longevity and student involvement sets it apart from other universities that have tried to divert stadium waste.
“We’re a leader now in the college arena because we do it consistently for every game and we’re getting over 80% diversion per game,” Caveny-Cox said.
Since its launch, the program has diverted more than 128 tons of recycling and compost. This year, when the 49ers hosted North Carolina and expanded stadium capacity, the zero-waste team diverted 2.73 tons of recycling and 1.12 tons of compost — more than 8,000 pounds of repurposed waste.
Some schools designate specific games for zero-waste campaigns as part of the Campus Race to Zero Waste GameDay Challenge. Charlotte is one of the few universities nationwide committed to diverting waste at every home game. That level of coordination is rare and has led Caveny-Cox to field questions from other schools about how to launch similar programs.
“It’s really impressive how far we’ve come and although it can be exhausting, it makes me feel really good to know we do it better than a lot of other campuses,” Caveny-Cox said.