SAN FRANCISCO - The annual Pac-12 Football Zero Waste Challenge winners were announced today after a successful 2022-23 season in which universities, athletics departments and sustainability offices collectively competed in the pursuit of zero-waste home football games. Arizona State took home honors for Innovation, its sixth category win.
ASU, along with other Pac-12 award winners: Colorado, USC, and Utah, will be recognized for their victories during a special awards ceremony at the 2023 Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, hosted by Stanford from June 21-22. For more information on the conference and to register, visit Pac-12.com/sustainability.
About the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge
A core pillar of Pac-12 Team Green, the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge is held annually during both football and basketball seasons. Each university selects one home football and one home basketball game to compete and provide a platform for engaging on best practices in waste diversion. As part of the competition, each competing university submitted a scorecard detailing the efforts around its Zero Waste game. Criteria is weighted as such: 25 percent participation and partnerships, 25 percent innovation credit and 50 percent stadium diversion rate.
A total of three judges selected one overall winner and one winner in three categories. The judging panel consisted of:
Innovation – 2022 Football Season: Arizona State (Oct. 8 vs. Washington)
ASU, along with other Pac-12 award winners: Colorado, USC, and Utah, will be recognized for their victories during a special awards ceremony at the 2023 Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, hosted by Stanford from June 21-22. For more information on the conference and to register, visit Pac-12.com/sustainability.
About the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge
A core pillar of Pac-12 Team Green, the Pac-12 Zero Waste Challenge is held annually during both football and basketball seasons. Each university selects one home football and one home basketball game to compete and provide a platform for engaging on best practices in waste diversion. As part of the competition, each competing university submitted a scorecard detailing the efforts around its Zero Waste game. Criteria is weighted as such: 25 percent participation and partnerships, 25 percent innovation credit and 50 percent stadium diversion rate.
A total of three judges selected one overall winner and one winner in three categories. The judging panel consisted of:
- Mike Carey - Senior Sustainability Manager, CR&R Incorporated
- Monica Rowand - Sustainability and Environmental Solutions, WM Advisory Services
- Laura Gonzalez-Ospina - Waste & Sustainability Coordinator, California State University, Sacramento
Innovation – 2022 Football Season: Arizona State (Oct. 8 vs. Washington)
- Achieved 81.81% diversion rate, including over six tons in recycling, over three tons in reuse and over one ton in compost.
- Sun Devil Athletics and ASU Zero Waste connected with Homer Farms to pilot a new composting system for the stadium, which tested a recently developed technology that would allow for better diversion of materials and mechanical sorting of compostable waste.
- Arizona State created a new compost procedure for the operations teams, Sodexo, LandCorp, and Olympus.