Buildings & Grounds Maintenance

The Program

In 2004, Stanford Recycling/PSSI was awarded a grant by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling to establish a bottle and can recycling program at Stanford Stadium. Working in partnership with the Department of Athletics, we implemented a collection program for bottles and cans and corrugated cardboard. We placed a bottle and can recycling bin next to each trash can throughout the stadium. We also provided cardboard recycling dumpsters around the stadium and enlisted the support of Stanford Concessions to recycle their cardboard.

In choosing our recycling bins we used the following criteria: the bins had to 1) be able to handle a large volume, 2) be aesthetically pleasing, 3) be able to be emptied manually as well as in an automated way for flexibility during games and efficiency after games, and 4) have restricted openings to reduce contamination.

We use Greenstone color bins which are aesthetically pleasing and go well with the stadium decor. We use 96 gallon wheeled Toter bins at each gate entrance so they can be moved outside the gate when the gates open and inside the gate at the end of the game. We also use wheeled carts inside the locker rooms. At each of the stairwells leading into the stadium, we use the Otto Recyclers, 60 gallon bins with restrictive lids that can either be emptied manually or with an automated truck. In the press box, we use Toter Slimline containers. And finally, in the upper corridor, called "the mineshaft", we use the 55 gallon steel drum trash cans turned into recycling bins by placing clear lids on them.

We trained the Athletic Staff, including ushers, public safety, custodians, and concessionaires. The clean-up crews collect recyclables in clear plastic bags after the game is over which are then consolidated in roll-off boxes and taken to the Stanford Recycling Center. We also promoted the new recycling program through container labels, ads in the football program, radio announcements, video on the video scoreboard, on-field promotion, and a booth at FanFest (a party that occurs near the stadium before each game).

During the first season of the recycling program, the attendance at the football games averaged about 22,501 people for a total of 135,000 people at a total of six games. An average of 4,750 plastic bottles of water and soda were sold at each of the six games for a total of 28,500. We were able to recycle 3,059 pounds of primarily plastic water bottles although there were some aluminum and glass containers.

We look forward to another successful season of recycling bottles, cans, and cardboard at Stanford Stadium. Go Stanford!