Olympics: LA 2024 lauds the Memorial Coliseum as a 'zero waste' venue
LAURA WALDEN (USA) / Sports Features Communications
(SFC) The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has just been named
a 'zero waste' venue further boosting the city's plan to host the Greenest
Games in history should they win the 2024 hosting of the summer Olympics.
The famed venue of the 1932 and 1984 Games is scheduled to
undergo a privately funded US$270 million facelift that will be finished for
the 2019 football season.
However it has already taken the plunge to clean up its waste
program and is now recycling, composting or re-purposing at least 90 per cent
of waste materials. It has also become the largest NFL stadium and second largest
college stadium to achieve zero-waste status after re-purposing 233 tons of
waste created by over one million stadium patrons this football season.
LA City Councilmember and LA Memorial Coliseum Commission
President Curren D. Price, Jr. commented on the new status, "The Coliseum's
Zero Waste program stages environmentally friendly major sports events that not
only benefits our community, but has the potential to change cities nationwide.
"I want to command the LA Memorial Coliseum and LA 2024 for
being an example of the kind of innovative, creative and forward thinking
strategies we want to see in Los Angeles. It gives me great pleasure to see
sustainable practices that are aligned with the City's vision and which address
current and future climate change impacts."
The University of Southern California (USC) is actively
implementing compostable trays, cutlery and cups, social media and peer-to-peer
education campaigns, 150 "eco station" recycling sites around the Coliseum, and
on-site waste compactors. USC will be the Media Village if the IOC gives the
2024 Games to LA. The bidding committee is interested in using the most environmentally
friendly strategies to host sustainable Games.
"LA 2024 has made a commitment to host the Greenest Games in
history, and we are working with a range of industry-leading partners to
deliver on that commitment," said LA 2024 CEO Gene Sykes.
"We do not require any permanent construction to host the
Games, which eliminates the significant environmental impact many major event
hosts have through large-scale building projects and allows us to dedicate time
and money to optimizing the efficiency and sustainability of our venue
operations.
"Environmental protection is high on the agenda for the City
of Los Angeles and part of the culture of our bid. We are determined to make LA
2024 a Games which helps place the Olympic Movement at the forefront of
sustainable major event hosting for years to come."
LA Memorial Coliseum General Manager Joe Furin added, "The
success of this program is another huge accomplishment for the Coliseum and its
program sponsors who played a part in making this possible."
Los Angeles is bidding against Paris, France to host the 2024 summer Olympics and the IOC is studying a strategy to see if it is feasible to award two editions at one time including 2028. A final decision may be made in the coming months prior to the IOC session in Lima, Peru in September.
**LAURA WALDEN has over twenty-six years of experience
in the Olympic Movement, formerly at the European Olympic Committees with
SportEurope under former IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge and IOC Member Mario
Pescante. She worked with the Rome 2004 and Turin 2006 Olympic bids and also
managed PR & media for Dr. Jacques Rogge during his campaign for the
presidency.
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
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