Chick-fil-A Bowl Announces Sustainability Results

Inaugural environmental effort to expand to other 2011 events

ATLANTA (March 29, 2011) – A longtime leader in giving “green,” the Chick-fil-A Bowl is now going green, too.   

The Chick-fil-A Bowl launched its inaugural sustainability efforts for the 2010 Bowl, Dec. 31, making it among the first college bowl games to focus on proactive green initiatives. Armed with the goal of becoming an industry leader in environmental responsibility, the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s plans centered on waste diversion and the use of green energy.

Successful strategies developed for the Chick-fil-A Bowl will also be put into use in 2011 for the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game featuring the University of Georgia and Boise State University.

“Much like our goal for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, our goal for our sustainability program is to be number one. The experts we have partnered with created a winning team focused on reaching that goal.” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “Together, we will build on this foundation and grow our efforts, creating a model for others to follow.”

Teamed with sustainability partners Coca-Cola Recycling LLC, Waste Management, Hagler Homrich Consulting and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCC), the Chick-fil-A Bowl instituted a recycling program that featured nearly 700 beverage container recycling bins positioned throughout the GWCC, tailgating lots and the Georgia Dome, and specially marked recycling bags were distributed to, and collected from, tailgaters. In addition, edible leftovers were donated to food banks, rather than being discarded.

These efforts resulted in almost 12 tons, or 32%, of the total waste material generated on game day being diverted from landfills. From a manufacturing perspective, the amount of recycled products saved 359 gallons of oil and 24,850 gallons of water.

The Coca-Cola Recycling Education Vehicle was on hand at the Chick-fil-A Bowl FanFest to talk to fans about the importance of recycling with interactive displays, games and prizes. As a final reminder, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed provided a public service announcement encouraging fans to recycle that was played throughout the game.

“At Coca-Cola, we don’t view our used beverage containers as waste, but as a valuable resource that can be used to manufacture new products,” said Gary Wygant, vice president of business development for Coca-Cola Recycling LLC. “We were pleased to provide recycling bins and bags so that visitors to the Chick-fil-A Bowl could help us recover those empty containers and give them a new life.”

“We were thrilled to partner with the Chick-fil-A Bowl and their outstanding efforts to propel environmental sustainability in 2010,” said Brandon Shaw, Waste Management South Atlantic area sales director. “Their vision of providing a customer-centric experience while minimizing the impact on the environment created natural synergies between our organizations.”

The Chick-fil-A Bowl also turned its attention to renewable energy use, with the help of longtime partner Georgia Power. Using electricity produced from local renewable resources, on game day the Georgia Dome was powered with 17,300 kilowatt hours of green energy, enough to power 17 typical family homes for a month.

The Home Depot also contributed to the Bowl’s sustainability efforts, providing 10,000 fans with coupons for complimentary compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 75% less energy and can last 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs. The coupons were dispensed during the game to fans using interactive Waste Management recycling bins.

Additionally, select print projects were produced using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) –certified paper, assuring that resources used were milled from sources practicing sustainable forestry.

Looking ahead, the Chick-fil-A Bowl will expand its initial sustainability efforts by integrating its first-year initiatives into 2011 events – the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament in May, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in September and the entirety of Chick-fil-A Bowl Week in December. Specific goals for the future include transitioning additional print projects to FSC-certified paper and increasing the percentage of waste captured and recycled.