Opened in August 2017, Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) is a world-class sports and entertainment venue in downtown Atlanta and home to the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United. In 2017, it became the first professional sports venue in North America to earn LEED Platinum Certification and continued this sustainability journey by achieving TRUE Precertification in June 2022. The Precertification allowed the Mercedes-Benz Stadium team to benchmark their zero-waste performance and refine their sustainability efforts to become the first sports stadium in the world to achieve TRUE Platinum Certification for Zero Waste.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium implements a variety of sustainable practices and programs which contribute to the facility’s journey to zero waste everyday – both during events and in the building’s administrative offices – including:
- Using supply chain items made from recyclable and compostable materials
- Preventing upstream waste from entering the facility ahead of time by reducing the amount of packaging from vendors
- Leveraging a 6,000-square-foot resource recovery room (R3) to reclaim, sort, and divert materials from landfill
- Sustainability education and engagement programs for fans, associates and the stadium’s food and beverage partners
- Recycling and compost bins in every stadium suite
- Composting food and other waste and then repurposing that compost in the onsite garden which provides food to the facility and the surrounding community
- Partnering with multiple organizations to find ways to reuse, donate, compost, or recycle food or waste items that would otherwise end up in the landfill
MBS also employs a variety of other sustainable practices, such as water retention, energy conservation, alternative transportation, urban garden and agriculture programs. MBS has instituted partnerships with like-minded organizations such as Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, Novelis, phade, Waste Management and Ecoworks Studio to further enhance its efforts.
“At two million square feet and a capacity of 75,000 seats, no other sports venue of this size anywhere has accomplished what we’ve done,” said Mercedes-Benz Stadium Chief Operating Officer Dietmar Exler. “This TRUE certification continues Arthur Blank’s long-term sustainable vision for generations of fans, a commitment to reduce our overall environmental footprint both in and around the stadium. We didn’t want to just change what we do at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, we wanted to be the example for everyone in the sports and entertainment industry that this can be achieved, and we can make a difference.”
“We set out to build a venue that would not only exceed expectations, but also push the limits of what was possible in terms of stadium design, fan experience, and sustainability,” noted Arthur Blank, stadium owner.
Learn more about MBS' sustainability initiatives and read more about their TRUE plaque ceremony.
Photos courtesy of AMBSE.