General description of the initiative
40 million practitioners, 16 million licensees and 2.5 million sporting events organized every year. The digits are impressive…and those are for France only. A demonstration of 5000 people alone generates up to 2.5 tons of waste, consumes on average 1,000 kWh of energy and 500 kg of paper! Each sporting event is therefore causing great pressure on the environment and our natural resources.

Zero Waste France designed this booklet as a triggering tool to raise awareness and the beginning of a journey towards an overall positive approach.

Results
The Annecy marathon, accompanied by the local Zero Waste’s Annecy group, undertook in 2018 a global zero waste approach: generalization of sorting, recovery of all organic waste on all concerned supplies (200 kg saved from incineration), recovery clothes by the structure Bazar sans Frontières and sponges by partner schools, reduction of packaging for medals and T-shirts, use of ecocups throughout the village, etc.

The City of Herbiers (France) deploys for 5 years a waste program reduction targeting its various sports clubs: recycling sector cardboards from a local school, reusable cups in stadiums and bins replaced as much as possible with awareness-raising posters about waste reduction.