Rubicon, State Farm Arena Work to Divert Waste from Landfills

Rubicon Global announced that it successfully diverted nearly 12 tons of waste destined for landfills from State Farm Arena during recent festivities in Atlanta. This waste was generated as a result of five events being held at the State Farm Arena leading up to and in support of the big game.

The team at State Farm Arena planned, unpacked and built temporary construction of booths and meeting spaces, as well as delivery of goods and services that were used onsite. More than 50,000 press and invited guests passed through the turnstiles at State Farm Arena during the week of January 28.

From this temporary construction, a mix of metal, wood, paper and old corrugated cardboard (OCC) needed an end destination. The construction and demolition team at Rubicon Global partnered with Waste Eliminator, a Metro-Atlanta roll-off container service provider, developed a sustainability plan and set up a series of specified containers to divert specific materials during the tear-down process and implement 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,” said Marc Spiegel, co-founder of Rubicon Global and head of the company’s construction and demolition offering, in a statement. “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.”

In all, 15 pickups of 30-yard open top containers by Rubicon and Waste Eliminator resulted in 2.07 tons of metal, 6.26 tons of wood and 3.46 tons of paper and OCC diverted to recycling streams. Training, signage and education was provided for State Farm Arena’s temporary and full-time employees to ensure proper diversion techniques and eliminate cross-contamination.

Stacked end-to-end, the 15 containers would stretch more than the length of a football field. Hauling nearly 12 tons of recyclable material away would also be the equivalent of hauling away 15 1963 Volkswagen Beetle vehicles.

“State Farm Arena is always conscious of our waste streams being part of a sustainability model in every possible way,” said Geoff Stiles, vice president of facilities and building operations for State Farm Arena, in a statement. “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.”

In April 2018, Rubicon Global also worked with the arena during a construction and demolition phase, with the removal of 12,500 seats from the arena as part of a refurbishment project. That project resulted in 64 tons of recyclable material being identified.