The GIANTS to use recyclable beer cups at home games in AFL sustainability first

Topping the AFL sustainability ladder, the GIANTS have sounded the final siren on use of disposable draught beer plastic cups at home games in an historic deal with social impact enterprise, War on Single Use Plastic (WOSUP).

Kicking off in 2024, the Australia-first sustainability partnership sets a new standard across large-scale sport and entertainment events, aimed at eliminating the negative knock-on of plastic pollution.

WOSUP Co-Founder and CEO Martin Salter applauded the GIANTS for taking the lead as the first AFL/AFLW club to replace environmentally harmful single-use plastic draught beer cups with reusable and infinitely recyclable and reusable WOSUP aluminium cups.

He said the partnership – covering all draught beers in the general areas, served at home games at GIANTS Stadium, Sydney Showground, alongside release of official GIANTS merchandise cups – will divert approximately 27,000 single-use plastic cups from landfill across the 2024 season, and deliver a total carbon reduction of 81,000kg CO₂-e (equivalent of almost 129 native trees planted by Greenfleet per season or almost 16 trees per game).

“There’s no question plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing our planet,” Salter said, adding large-scale venues and events are among the world’s biggest contributors to single-use plastic cup waste.

“In Australia alone, a line-up of 65 stadiums and 43 arenas churn through an estimated 40 to 50 million disposable cups each year. Of concern, only 9% of all plastic ever made has been recycled, while 75% of all aluminium produced remains in use, making it the most sustainable metal in the world and a key circular economy building block.”

GIANTS Executive General Manager – Commercial, Alex Stanley, was equally as thrilled with the new partnership.

“This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to sustainability and reducing our environmental impact and we’re excited to make a positive impact together,” Mr Stanley said.

“Removing single-use plastic from our home games will make a difference and we are extremely proud to be leading the way as the first AFL club to switch to reusable alternatives.”

“WOSUP does a fantastic job in promoting reusable alternatives and we look forward to playing our part in continuing to support recycling and sustainability over plastic.”