Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Case Study

Background:

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was dubbed the ‘Green Games’ for it’s commitment to, and delivery of, the most environmentally responsible Olympic Games to date.

Closed Loop or what was then known as Visy Special Events, the Official Provider of Packaging and Recycling Services, played a vital role in delivering the ‘Green Games’ through the planning and successful implementation of the closed loop recycling program.

The Challenge:

The Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) required a company to supply and monitor the recyclability of all items coming into the Games’ grounds. This included packaging, signage, furniture, equipment and building materials.

Visy Special Events were able to provide these products and services in an effort to create the world’s first Green Games.

The Solution:

Products and services provided by Visy Special Events as an Olympic Sponsor included:

• The supply of 100% recyclable and / or biodegradable catering packaging products - enough to feed over nine million spectators, 10,000 athletes, 40,000 volunteers and 15,000 media for the duration of the Games;
• The provision of recycling equipment and services at all venues (competition and non-competition) for both front and back of house recycling;
• The sorting, processing and remanufacture of all cardboard and commingled waste collected from the Games;
• The provision of 100% recycled cardboard furniture for the Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Centre and the Main Media Centre. Over 2000 bookcases and 1000 tables were used during the Games and then collected after use to be recycled again; and
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• The provision of over 9km of grandstand facia boards and signage manufactured from 100% recycled hdpe plastic. Over 339,800 old milk bottles, collected from Australian homes through Visy’s kerbside collections, were recycled to create the Olympic signage.

The Results:

The Closed Loop recycling program of the Sydney Games, the largest ever undertaken, resulted in a landfill diversion rate of over 70%.

• Over 500T of cardboard recycled
• Over 2,000,0000 PET bottles recycled
• Over 630,000 aluminium cans recycled
• Over 165,000 glass bottles recycled
• Over 1,200T of compost collected

The waste collected was sorted by Visy Special Events and remanufactured into new products; paper and cardboard into new cardboard boxes and food packaging, PET plastic into bottles, fibres, filters and injection moulded goods.

The Closed Loop recycling program of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games has left valuable legacies including extensive product and service development, higher public and stakeholder awareness and participation, an increase in best practice standards, and importantly, a proven model which is readily transferable to other events, venues, facilities and organisations.