Not Just green turf: Stadium Waikato

Guided by the Hamilton Environmental Sustainability Strategy, state-of-the-art sustainable building practices have been used across the design, build, and ongoing maintenance of the facilities.

Water flow restrictors on all taps and showers and water-sensitive taps in bathrooms prevent water wastage, and sustainable building management systems - along with the venue’s efficient LED lighting - helps better manage energy consumption.

The stadium operates a range of low waste initiatives - glass, plastic, tin, paper, cardboard and bottle tops are all recycled - and food and retail packaging waste, along with bathroom and kitchen paper towels and grass clippings, are redirected to commercial composting.

Consumable leftover food is donated to Kaivolution - an organisation that rescues and redistributes edible food from commercial outlets and supplies it to people in the local region. Kitchen food waste is redirected from landfill and sent to a ministry-approved piggery.

Food waste reduction initiatives like this make a difference. Kiwis throw away almost 158,000 tonnes of food every year - including 15,000 tonnes of bread. When that waste is sent to landfill it decomposes, releasing greenhouse gases.  

To combat this, FMG Stadium now uses ‘rescued bread flour' - reclaimed surplus bread, prior to its ‘best before’ date which is processed back as usable flour - as an ingredient in all its muffin products, which are baked freshly on site.  

The taste? Just as good - if not better - than the regular item, so they say, and better for the environment too.  

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