Sydney AFL team the GSW Giants has signed a deal with social impact enterprise War on Single Use Plastic (WOSUP) that will see the end of single-use draught beer plastics cups.
WOSUP Co-Founder and CEO, Martin Salter, applauded the GIANTS for taking the lead as the first AFL/AFLW club to replace single-use plastic draught beer cups with reusable and recyclable WOSUP aluminium cups.
He said the partnership – covering all draught beers in the general areas, served at home games at Giants Stadium – will divert approximately 27,000 single-use plastic cups from landfill across the 2024 season, and deliver a 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 per cent of all plastic ever made has been recycled, while 75 per cent of all aluminium produced remains in use, making it the most sustainable metal in the world and a key circular economy building block.”
GSW Giants executive general manager – commercial, Alex Stanley, was equally happy with the new partnership.
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“This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to sustainability and reducing our environmental impact and we’re excited to make a positive impact together,” 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.”
Salter said WOSUP was in discussions with other AFL/AFLW clubs and their venues and hoped the Giants’ endorsement would lead to an expedited transition away from all single-use plastic cups.
WOSUP’s lightweight aluminium cups are a safe and sustainable crowd-and-climate gamechanger and also keep drinks colder for longer.
The cups are purposely designed to be used again and again (hygienically washed and returned to venues for reuse), providing a cost-effective solution to ditch single-use plastic, boost sustainability targets, and create real-time dialogue with fans thanks to a bespoke technology platform, WOSUP Rewards.