Blue Arena at The Ranch has recently implemented an effective recycling program in partnership with PepsiCo termed Replenysh. This project informs the Climate Smart Future Ready circular economy goal of diverting materials from the landfill and expanding recycling.

The Ranch transitioned from plastic to aluminum cups for alcoholic beverages in late 2023 and have also replaced 90% of the plastic water bottles with aluminum products as well. The aluminum cups have seen an 80% recycling rate in the first quarter of the program. 

The Ranch was thrilled about this opportunity because the program made the switch simple and also offered transparency through publicly accessible data, which is important to gain support of the public and staff involved in the program.

How does the program work? Conor McGrath, the Executive Director at The Ranch, filled me in. “After each event we collect the Aluminum cans and cups during the post event clean from the arena seating sections and from the concourse recycling bins. Staff then sort the Aluminum into super sacks which are picked up by Pepsi and sent to a recycling facility where they are turned back into cans and cups for reuse.” 

The materials are all tagged and tracked as they make their way to the recycling center. Below are the first quarter results as reported from PepsiCo:

• 4500 lbs of materials recycled. 
• 600+ cubic feet saved from the landfill.
• Reduction of 10,000+ grams of carbon in the atmosphere.
• 2000+ gallons of oil saved.
• 31,000+ kwh of electricity saved.

The ongoing impact metrics are regularly updated.

Replenysh still has its challenges though, McGrath explained. At first, they were seeing more aluminum going into the trash bins on the concourse. This has decreased with signage, but there is still some cross contamination. It takes several staff to support the program’s goals including operations staff to collect and sort as well as marketing staff who are involved in the signage and communication.

Further, the events complex has switched from plastic to compostable trays for food, offers sipper-style soda lids to replace plastic straws, and introduced biodegradable single-serve utensils.

When asked for more information on these changes, The Ranch responded saying although there is not currently a composting operation in place, they are trying to take the steps they can control to influence the world for the better, and so they hope that their small step of using biodegradable materials will in the future lead to a full-circle operation.