Feb 1, 2020 - Sports

Super Bowl spends $500k to ditch single-use plastic

Orion Rummler

In this image, someone steps over a curb at the super bowl. the curb is covered in trash — Trash in the aftermath of Philadelphia celebrating the Eagles' Super Bowl LII win. Photo: Corey Perrine/Getty Images

Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, the Miami Dolphins and concession services for the Hard Rock Stadium invested $500,000 in replacing single-use plastic cups with aluminum alternatives, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: By one estimate, nearly 80% of plastic waste has accumulated in landfills or in the natural environment, and it’s uncertain how long it takes to degrade. Plastics are slowly permeating our bodies, oceans and even the air.

Flashback: The 2017 Super Bowl generated about 60 tons of waste, but in an effort to make the event "zero waste," workers organized what could be recycled, reused or composted. The "Zero Waste" Super Bowl aimed to burn 10% of all the waste to create electricity in a waste-to-energy incineration plant.

Go deeper: Solving the plastic problem

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Super Bowl spends $500k to ditch single-use plastic

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