Recycle on the Go Success St
Qualcomm Stadium's Recycling Program
Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers football team, has been recycling for almost 18 years.
playing fields. From bins placed in the parking lots fortailgating fans to an innovative partnership with a nonprofit
its recycling program as well as improving the community.
Facts at a Glance
Qualcomm Stadium has
the second largest parking
lot in the NFL (166 acres
with 18,500 parking
spaces).
The stadium's seating
capacity is 71,500.
Urban Corps of
San Diego County, a
nonprofit organization
to employ at-risk youth,
provides low-cost labor for
the recycling program.
Three hundred and fifty
94-gallon bins are placed
in the tailgating area.
At least 50 permanent
concrete containers will
be placed in the lower
concourse level of the
stadium when funding is
obtained.
Qualcomm Stadium, home
of the San Diego Chargers
football team.
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131
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Program Overview
Owned and operated by the City of San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium has undergone
numerous renovations since it was constructed in 1967, and today offers a seating
capacity of 71,500. Each year the stadium hosts eleven Chargers games, six San Diego
State University games, the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowl games, and one high school
football championship. The average audience is about 50,000 fans for Chargers games
and 15,000 fans for university football games. The stadium also hosts other major events
such as the Monster Jam, Supercross, and the Street Scene concert, which typically take
place between August and December. Each year, more than 100 smaller events take
advantage of the stadium's enormous parking lot, which hosts car shows and fills the need
for overflow parking during marathons and other events in downtown San Diego.
During the 2006 football season, the stadium collected more than 65 tons of recyclables—
up from 38 tons in 2005, representing a 58 percent increase. These figures do not reflect
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the significant amounts of recyclable materials collected by outside parties, or the
materials recycled by Centerplate, the stadium's food and beverage vendor, which include
approximately 16 tons of cardboard.
Nuts and Bolts
Qualcomm Stadium's program currently involves recycling in the following locations: the
"bowl" (the seating area within the stadium); concourse; apron/entrance gates; vending
areas; bars, restaurants, and luxury suites; parking lots; and administrative offices.
Material Generation by Location
Location
Material
Bowl, concourse, apron/entrance gates
Beverage containers (plastic, aluminum, glass),
plastic cups, and paper
Vending areas
Cardboard, beverage containers, and plastic cups
Bars, restaurants, and luxury suites
Glass, cardboard, beverage containers, and plastic cups-
mostly bottles in this area
Parking lots
Beverage containers
Administrative offices
Paper, beverage containers
Partnership With Urban Corps. In 1999, the stadium partnered with Urban Corps
of San Diego County, a nonprofit organization that works to educate and train at-risk
youth in the San Diego area, to provide most of the labor for the recycling program.
Urban Corps was founded in 1989 to address the growing problem of young adults who
had dropped out of high school without jobs or job training. Another goal was to meet
the need for public lands conservation and community service.
Urban Corps gives youth a second chance to obtain a high school
diploma through its onsite charter school and to receive a modest
paycheck while working and receiving job training in Urban
Corps' environmental or conservation departments.
Today, Urban Corps workers collect all the trash and recyclables
in the bowl area and parking lots using golf carts with open-
well trailers. The workers use walkie-talkies to tell the drivers
when bins are full and ready to be picked up. Urban Corps uses
side-loader recycling trucks to collect and empty the bins, and
then hauls the materials to a local recycling facility. The recycler
provides monthly reports indicating how much material was
recycled by weight, and Urban Corps retains the money generated
from the recyclables to fund programs that will assist the young
adults in finding career paths. According to Sam Duran, chief
executive officer of Urban Corps, revenue from the
materials recycled in 2006 was about $10,000.
Collection Logistics. To collect recyclable
plastic bottles discarded by the fans in the bowl
area, approximately 35 Urban Corps workers
go through the seating sections after an event
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to pick up trash and separate the recyclables. The "bowl pick" after a Chargers game
typically generates about 500 pounds of plastic bottles. Based on sales figures for water,
soda, and beer sold, the stadium estimates that Urban Corps workers recover about 75
percent of the plastic bottles.
Qualcomm Stadium has the second largest parking lot in the National Football League
(NFL), covering 166 acres with 18,500 parking spaces. To encourage recycling among
tailgating fans, the stadium placed more than 350 recycling bins in the sidewalk area
surrounding the parking lot, near the turnstiles, and in central locations, such as near
light posts and garbage cans.
Recycling bins in the parking lot are used to
collect plastic, aluminum, and glass beverage
containers. So far, the stadium has had mixed
success with recycling in the parking lot due
to contamination (when visitors place trash in
recycling bins) and scavenging (when homeless
individuals or other "unauthorized" collectors
pick out the recyclables). Stadium officials
are discussing options to improve the signage
and receptacles and may create "convenience
stations," featuring portable toilets, recycling bins,
garbage cans, and containers to collect hot coals
from barbeque grills, throughout the parking lot.
Another potential solution is
to distribute recycling bags to
tailgaters as they enter the site
to encourage them to separate
their recyclables. Urban Corps
staff could then roam the
parking lot in trucks to pick up
the full recycling bags and distribute new ones as necessary.
Because the stadium does not allow fans to bring their own food or beverages into
the stadium, recycling bins placed by the entrance gates collect significant amounts
of recyclables (mostly plastic bottles and aluminum cans) with relatively low rates of
contamination. Also, scavenging is less of a problem at the gates than in the parking lots,
because these bins fill up quickly and are emptied regularly.
The vending areas generate a high volume of cardboard from the packaging of food,
beverages, disposable cutlery, and other associated items. Employees of Centerplate do
most of the work baling the cardboard and then contact the recycling company to collect
and haul the cardboard offsite for recycling. Centerplate recycles approximately 16 tons of
cardboard during a 12-month period.
Glass, plastic, and aluminum containers generated in the luxury suites, bar/lounges, and
restaurants also are recycled. The luxury suites each have their own recycling bins, and
Centerplate's hosts and waitstaff are trained to put recyclables in the appropriate bins.
Unused food is donated to a local food bank.
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Recycle on the Go U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
In the administrative offices, employees recycle office paper, newspaper, and beverage
containers. Qualcomm Stadium staff is responsible for collecting recyclables in the
administrative offices.
Challenges and Solutions
Challenge: Funding the recycling program was a challenge.
Solution: Stadium officials applied for a grant through the California Department of
Conservation to help cover the cost of purchasing the permanent recycling
bins installed in the bowl area and to offset the cost of labor for collecting
the recyclables. The permanent bins look like regular concrete trash
containers but have the recycling logo and a different top and cost $500
each. Qualcomm pays Urban Corps approximately $84,000 for about 10,000
labor hours to collect trash and recyclables at the stadium each football
season. The stadium also provides approximately 30,000 to 40,000 square
feet of space to store the recycling containers used in the parking lots.
Challenge: The stadium has experienced contamination problems, where visitors were
using the recycling bins for trash instead of recycling.
Solution: Stadium officials intend to place convenience stations at each of the 125
lamp posts spread throughout the parking lot where fans can drop off their
garbage and recyclables.
With new, clearly marked
recycling bins, fans
will be able to see the
difference between trash
and recyclables and be
encouraged to take a more
active role in the process.
The stadium is pursuing
sponsors, including tenants,
vendors, and advertisers to
help achieve this goal.
Challenge: The stadium had trouble
with "scavengers" or
"unauthorized collectors"
dumping garbage cans on the ground and rummaging
through the trash looking for recyclables.
Solution: Stadium officials are working with their waste hauler to provide 3-cubic-yard
bins that should minimize or eliminate the scavenging problem. Another
important strategy is eliminating the source; that is, having Urban Corps'
army of workers regularly empty the bins so the recyclables do not sit
unattended for long periods of time.
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Recycling Results, 2005 and 2006 Football Seasons
Material*
HOPE plastic
PET plastic
Miscellaneous plastic (e.g., souvenir cups)
Tin
Cardboard
Total
2005 Collection
(in Pounds)
1,294
61,699
4,656
4,432
0
2,615
1,801
0
76,497
2006 Collection
(in Pounds)
4,626
47,871a
400b
30,738C
4,690d
118e
42,633f
40
131,116
*These figures include only the recyclables collected by Urban Corps from 16 games; they do not reflect cardboard
recycled by the concessionaire or materials collected by scavengers.
a Part of the reason for the drop in glass collected between 2005 and 2006 is due to the city passing an ordinance
prohibiting bringing glass into the parking lots.
b The drop in HOPE plastic recovered is due to a switch by vendors to products sold in PET packaging, especially for
bottled juices.
: The jump in PET plastic is due to vendors selling more products packaged in PET and a prohibition against the sale
of beverages in glass containers.
d In 2006, the stadium began recycling the plastic souvenir Chargers cups left by fans inside the bowl area.
eTailgaters are bringing more "prepared" food and fewer tin cans that require preparation into the tailgating areas.
f The large increase in the volume of paper reported is due to increased collection of placard board (mixed paper)
during the bowl pick.
Reasons for Success
Pooling funds and seeking mutually beneficial partnering opportunities with city
departments and community organizations proved key to making the stadium's recycling
program viable. Recycling at Chargers games decreases garbage hauling expenses for
Qualcomm Stadium and improves the longevity of regional landfills. In addition,
EPA estimates that Qualcomm Stadium's reported recycling efforts in 2006 saved the
equivalent of more than 23,000 gallons of gasoline or 460 barrels of oil. (This number
would be even higher if it included the recycling of materials collected by scavengers.)
Qualcomm Stadium officials list the following factors as essential to the success of their
recycling program:
• Gaining support from top management. The following key "players" and decision-
makers were involved in launching the stadium's recycling program: general manager
of the stadium, a lead staff member from the city, a manager from Urban Corps, and a
management-level staff member representing the vendors.
• Seeking financial support from the city government and education support from city staff.
• Establishing partnerships with community organizations such as Urban Corps.
• Providing ongoing recycling education to vendors as well as current and new staff
(Qualcomm Stadium and Urban Corps).
• Placing conveniently located bins and using consistent branding (blue recycling
containers with eye-level signage).
Recycle on the Go U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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Tips for Success
Keep it simple. Qualcomm
Stadium uses blue
recycling bins to make
them stand out from
garbage cans. Establish
consistency in the bins, the
signage, and placement of
the bins to help "brand"
the organization's recycling
program.
Place recycling bins close
to where the materials are
generated to make it easy
for fans, vendors, and
workers to use and access
them.
Provide space for recycling
activities on the property,
including storage space for
housing collapsible bins
when not in use.
Choose the appropriate
types of bins for the
setting. Consider
factors including
color, size, durability,
maneuverability, and
signage/labeling needs.
Work with waste/recycling
haulers to modify their
contracts to create an
incentive for recycling and
ensure that they report
recycling volumes or
weights.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA530-F-07-023
September 2007
www.epa.gov/recycleonthego
Future Forecast
Bin Signage and Placement. In fiscal year 2008, stadium officials plan to improve
signage for trash and recycling containers, offer clearly marked recycling stations, and
create more organized "convenience stations" for handling recyclables.
Education and Outreach. The stadium plans to launch a public relations campaign
designed to publicize its recycling success and launch new programs that will require
greater public support, such as distributing recycling bags to visitors and promoting
greater participation from the fans. In addition, the stadium is considering creating public
service announcements with the Chargers to better educate visitors about recycling and
ultimately increase recycling rates. Also, the stadium is developing new signage that will
be funded by the city's Environmental Services Department.
Innovation and Program Expansion. Stadium officials are exploring the feasibility
of collecting and recycling the plastic (polypropylene) caps removed during every
transaction for water and soda purchases. This and other ideas will be discussed with the
stadium's recycling and concessionaire vendors.
.ecycled/Recyclable - Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer,
Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper
Disclaimer: The mention of any company, product, or process in this publication does
not constitute or imply endorsement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA is partnering with
federal agencies, states,
municipalities, and
organizations to promote
recycling in public places.
www.epa.gov/recycleonthego
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