This development comes nearly a year after introducing Twickenham Stadium’s “self-destructing” plastic cup as part of its sustainability initiative, “Define Your Legacy.”
🏟 The venue continues to push for more innovative and sustainable solutions, including the recent addition of carbon labelling on match day and non-match day menus. These efforts not only aim to address event-based waste but also to create lasting positive impacts.
Following the roll out of the new benches, event planners can see the direct benefit of their event in grassroots sport, adding to the legacy benefits of holding an event at Twickenham Stadium.
🎙 Nils Braude, Managing Director of the Twickenham Stadium, commented: “It’s important that all of our customers know that every time they hold an event in Twickenham, they are directly and positively affecting grassroots rugby. It’s not always as visible as this, so it’s nice to give them a picture – literally – of their waste being transformed from rubbish to a really useful piece of kit for local rugby. We hope that this bench will serve as a powerful symbol of the positive impact that we can create when we work together as a team – both on and off the field.”
🗣 Connor Winter, Co-Founder at Circular 11, stated: “The bench is expected to last for decades, but when it eventually reaches the end of its life, it can be recycled into a new timber alternative product. We may battle it out on the pitch, but the fight against plastic pollution requires all of us to be on the same team. This unique donation from Twickenham Stadium and Lyfecycle will serve as a reminder that we can all make a difference, no matter how big the challenge may seem.”
🏉 Twickenham Stadium’s cups used at the Autumn Nations Series were collected and repurposed into sustainable benches with the help of Lyfecycle and their community recycling partners Impact Solutions and Circular 11. The cups were cleaned and shredded before being mixed with recycled plastic. This mixture was then melted and shaped into planks for the bench.
The Lyfecycle benches are already being used as part of the Rugby Football Union’s ‘Good for Rugby’ initiative and are benefiting clubs around the UK.
