AMB SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
The stadium built to last
AMB SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
I PROFILE
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has been set on sustainability since it opened in 2017. Renowned businessman and owner Arthur M. Blank challenged his leaders at AMB Sports and Entertainment to raise the standard and create the most sustainable stadium in the US. Adam Fullerton, VP of Stadium Operations and Andrew Bohenko, Sustainability Initiatives Manager, explained to Hannah Barnett how the stadium manages its environmental footprint on such a vast scale. 52 Inside america
H
ome to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, and Atlanta United of MLS, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a
key part of its community. It also stages large concerts, recently welcoming both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. The stadium first achieved zero waste in March 2022. Covering 1.9 million square feet, with a capacity of 75,000, the stadium welcomed three million visitors last year and produced three million pounds of rubbish. Consequently, getting to zero waste is no mean feat. However, in 2022, Mercedes-Benz Stadium diverted 90% of its waste away from landfill without incineration. It is an impressive achievement, but one, like the rest of the stadium’s sustainable policies, that relies on cooperation from its employees and wide range of partners. “We can’t do this alone,” VP of Stadium Operations Adam Fullerton said. “It takes all of us to get there.”
Zero-waste Composting is a vital element of the stadium’s sustainability and something it has scaled-up in just a few years. “When I started this job in 2019, our composting operation was done in a couple of paint buckets,” Mr Fullerton recalled. “Now we have two 34-yard self-contained compactors. And we turn those over several times a week.” The stadium became TRUE Platinum certified in 2022. The base requirement for the accreditation is demonstrating a 90%
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AMB SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
I PROFILE
diversion rate over a 12-month period,
zero waste. It takes everybody to push this
as well as showing that certain materials
across their departments and for the fans
are upcycled, with zero waste policies
to be on board as well.”
implemented company-wide. As the stadium was already operating as
“It also cemented us in the United States as the front-runner in sustainability,”
a zero waste facility, it achieved the TRUE
Mr Fullerton added. “We are having the
Platinum certification for zero waste in six
sustainability conversation with venues
months rather than the usual 12 to 15 and
around the country now and our goal is
established itself as a leader in the industry.
to bring everyone along with us.”
“TRUE certification is meaningful in many ways, because it shows that everybody
Social sustainability
at every level of this company believes in
Situated in downtown Atlanta, it is important
what we’re doing,” Sustainability Initiatives
for the stadium to be part of the community.
Manager Andrew Bohenko said. “It’s impos-
As a Leadership in Energy and Environmental
sible for any one person to make this place
Design (LEED) platinum-rated facility, and the first LEED Platinum certified professional sports stadium in North America, part of its certification came from its water-diversion programme. This was to alleviate some of the flooding typically experienced on the west side of Atlanta. When constructing the new stadium, the company instituted a 1.1-million-gallon water retention vault and 680,000-gallon cistern to collect water from the west side
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to the 14-acre roof. The reclaimed water is used to supplement the stadium’s AC cooling towers and used to water the onsite urban garden. Between the underground retention vault, cistern, and three bio swells; Mercedes-Benz Stadium can divert over two million gallons of water away from flooding in the west side communities of Atlanta. Then there is the food donation programme, which processed over 70,000 meals last year. “It is a very robust program,” Mr Bohenko said. “It’s something we’re very proud of. Last year, we donated 86,000 pounds of food, that’s over 260,000 pounds of donations since the building opened, and
in this case food and beverage partner
the number keeps going up.”
Levy, and Second Helpings, a local non-
As with all its sustainable initiatives, the
profit organisation.
company works closely with other busi-
“It’s not just typical stadium food like
nesses to ensure a smooth operation,
chicken wings and French fries being
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AMB SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
I PROFILE
located in Atlanta. The cans collected from the stadium are recycled and the financial rebate is donated back through Novelis to build homes with Habitat for Humanity in Atlanta. “Recycle for Good is one of the best programmes we have,” Mr Fullerton said. donated,” Mr Bohenko added. “A lot of the
“We’ve built four homes now, just from
food donated comes from the premium
the proceeds of aluminium recycling. It’s
areas and includes things like prepared
a wonderful partnership and something
steak, chicken, etc. It’s portioned up and
that ties our stadium to the neighbour-
made into meals.
hood and the city.”
“By utilising our resources, we’re getting food to people that need it. Composting is
Significant partnerships
great, we’re very proud of our composting
All full-time employees at Mercedes-Benz
programme. But to take a material and
Stadium are now given sustainability tours,
use it for its intended purpose, is the pin-
to encourage collaboration across
nacle of sustainability.”
the workforce.
Another significant initiative is Recycle
“We show them things like the resource
for Good, in partnership with Novelis, the
recovery room, where waste items like our
world’s largest aluminium recycler, also
Phade biodegradable straws are sorted,
because most of them will never go down
With the success of Mercedes-Benz
there otherwise,” Mr Bohenko explained.
Stadium, AMB Sports and Entertainment
“It’s for employees to understand the
remains a pioneer in sustainable stadium
impact of their actions and to consider the
construction and management. The vision
labour hours lost if they throw something in
for the future is simple: carry the message.
the wrong bin.”
“It really is an exciting, emerging industry
With its LEED Zero and TRUE Platinum
within stadiums,” Mr Bohenko concluded.
certification for zero waste, Mercedes-Benz
“We reach so many people each and every
Stadium is making a name for itself in sustain-
event, but we want to communicate our
ability circles. It has developed a zero waste
message to all 10 million Georgians.
playbook to document the first five years of
“It’s very challenging work but it’s also very
the stadium and show how it became the
rewarding. On my first day, our COO Dietmar
zero waste establishment it is today.
Exler said: ‘get us to zero waste as quickly
“The idea is that others can take our best
as possible.’ That was the mandate. It wasn’t
practices, and lessons learned, bring that
‘here’s your budget to get us to zero waste.’
to their stadiums, and hopefully shrink our
That gave me a lot of leeway and confi-
timeline,” Mr Bohenko said. “We’ve had
dence to try new things.”
n
representatives visit from the University of Michigan, University of Georgia, Georgia State and Georgia Tech. We’ve also had several professional sports teams and developers come through, with the intention to take what they learn back to those they work with and institute it in their spaces.”
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www.mercedesbenzstadium.com