Aston Villa have partnered with Event Cup Solutions to implement a carbon-neutral reusable cup system on matchdays at Villa Park.
Launching at Wednesday night’s game against Leeds United, the initiative, developed alongside catering partner Levy UK + Ireland, will remove over 300,000 single-use plastic cups from the stadium over the course of a season.
Fans will be asked to leave a 10p deposit for each cup, which is refundable on return of the cup or can be donated to Aston Villa Foundation.
As an extra incentive for supporters to return their cup, one tree will be planted for every 1,000 cups returned.
John Reeves, director of Event Cup Solutions, said: “We want to help customers at stadiums, venues and events and make it easy for them to return their cups.
“Our cups are not fan cups or souvenir cups - we want them back to be used time after time, and we believe that by taking that further step and planting trees right here in the UK.
“Customers who visit Aston Villa will play their part and ensure they have a great time, enjoy their day at Villa Park and, importantly, they don’t take their cups home.”
Event Cup Solutions’ ONE Planet ONE Chance Reusable Cup System is a fully managed, sustainable reusable cup system which completely offsets the carbon emissions from transporting and washing cups via a UK tree planting project which is supplied by SQSTR.
By 2024, the club estimates over 1.3 million single-use cups will have been removed from the stadium.
The announcement follows the launch of the club’s new environmental sustainability commitment, ‘Claret, Blue and Green’ in November.
The commitment will see the Villa take short and long-term actions to reduce our carbon footprint.
