Feb 15 2019
Rubicon Global, a technology company that offers waste, recycling, and smart city solutions to industries and governments internationally, recently stated that it effectively diverted approximately 12 tons of waste intended for landfills from State Farm Arena during last week’s revelries in Atlanta, Georgia. This waste was produced because of five events being held at the State Farm Arena prior to and in support of the ‘Big Game.’
The team at State Farm Arena scheduled, unpacked, and erected provisional construction of booths and meeting spaces, as well as distribution of goods and services that were used on site. Over 50,000 press and invited guests walked through the entrances at State Farm Arena during the week of January 28th.
From this provisional construction, a mix of wood, paper, metal, and old corrugated cardboard (OCC) needed an end-destination. The construction and demolition team at Rubicon Global collaborated with Waste Eliminator, a Metro-Atlanta roll off container service provider, came up with a sustainability plan, and arrange a series of specified containers to divert particular materials during the tear-down process and execute a recycling stream solution.
As with all recycling—and the construction industry is no different—making the recycling process easier is critical for success. The impact that trash has on the environment and our communities is indeed harmful today, but will be magnified in the long term if we don’t shift our mindsets away from landfills. We are thrilled with the ongoing partnership we have with State Farm Arena, as well as with our hauling partner Waste Eliminator, both of whom have great sustainability philosophies that align with our mission to end waste.
Marc Spiegel, Co-Founder and Head of Construction and Demolition, Rubicon Global.
In total, 15 pick-ups of 30-yard open top containers by Rubicon and Waste Eliminator resulted in 6.26 tons of wood, 2.07 tons of metal, and 3.46 tons of paper and OCC diverted to recycling streams. Training, signage, and education were offered for State Farm Arena’s temporary and full-time employees to ensure correct diversion methods and eradicate cross-contamination.
Stacked end-to-end, the 15 containers would stretch more than a football field’s length 1. Shipping almost 12 tons of recyclable material away would also be comparable to shipping 15 1963 Volkswagen Beetle vehicles2.
State Farm Arena is always conscious of our waste streams being part of a sustainability model in every possible way. We’ve been excited by the creative thinking, strategic planning and smart sustainability solutions that Rubicon Global has proposed to us, and we thank them for their help on this latest project.
Geoff Stiles, Vice President of Facilities and Building Operations, State Farm Arena.
In April 2018, Rubicon Global had partnered with the Arena during a construction and demolition phase where 12,500 seats were removed from the arena as part of a renovation project. Nearly 64 tons of recyclable material was identified in that project.
(1)using the standard measure of one 30-yard container being 22’ long, 6’ high, and 7’6” deep.
(2) using the standard weight that one 1963 Volkswagen Beetle weighs approximately 1600 pounds.