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Huhtamaki North America has become the official “sustainable packaging provider” at Children’s Mercy Park, home of the US Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City, in a five-year deal aiming to reduce the stadium’s environmental footprint to zero waste by 2027.

As part of the partnership, Huhtamaki’s products will be implemented at Children’s Mercy Park with the aim of transitioning into compostable and recyclable packaging in all premium spaces. Sporting Kansas City aims to implement composting depositories at Central Bank Sporting Complex, Compass Minerals National Performance Center, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Swope Soccer Village, and other facilities operated by the club, as well as establishing strategic messaging campaigns to spread awareness.

Furthermore, Huhtamaki’s sports partnership in North America features naming rights to the Huhtamaki shield club at Children’s Mercy Park and regional community impact initiatives through support of Sporting Sustainability and The Victory Project – respectively working towards the reduction of food waste and uplifting ill, disabled, and disadvantaged children in Kansas City and the Midwest.

“We applaud the sustainability efforts of Sporting Kansas City and are excited to work towards zero waste at Children’s Mercy Park,” said Ann O’Hara, president of Huhtamaki North America. “Working alongside Sporting Kansas City, we will demonstrate the circularity of our packaging that is designed to protect food, people, and the planet.”

“Packaging sustainability starts with the end in mind,” continued Michael Hodges, vice president of Sustainability and Communications. “At Huhtamaki, we are innovating all our packaging to be recyclable or compostable. Our packaging ensures food is delivered safely and conveniently to consumers and then be recycled and composted to protect our planet.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Huhtamaki, a global packaging leader with a longstanding reputation of excellence in sustainable food packaging,” said Jon Moses, vice president of Corporate Partnerships at Sporting Kansas City. “Together we will achieve a more sustainable future.”

“We share the same vision to create a sustainable guest experience with our innovative culinary approach and our overall stadium food and beverage initiatives,” concluded Marc Mulherin, Sporting Kansas City’s vice president of Hospitality. “Offering an elevated food and beverage experience that focuses on environmental and sustainability efforts will be a continued approach for the 2023 season and beyond.”

In light of Super Bowl Sunday 2023, DS Smith released a report suggesting that 40% of consumers do not recycle their pizza boxes and end of life and called for their appropriate disposal.

evian partnered with re-universe, then known as Reward4Waste, at the 2022 Wimbledon tennis tournament to roll out the Return4Reward project; this saw consumers engage in a digital deposit return scheme, scanning the barcode on evian drinks containers and the QR code at recycling points, entering them into a draw to win two tickets to the Wimbledon 2023 Women’s Finals. Sainsbury’s later set up recycling points in its own stores.