Page 24 - Plastics News April 2019

FeAtures

The Plastic Pitch

Mitch Reames

Beer brand Budweiser developed s new sports arena in Sochi, Russia where the playing field is made from
50,000 plastic red cups collected during the FIFA World Cup last year.

f you were fortunate enough to make it to Russia last In the shadows of the stadium in Sochi, the pitch is a bit
Isummer, chances are you may have a plastic Budweiser smaller than regulation—65 meters by 42 meters—but this
cup as a souvenir, probably, sitting on your desk at work field is indicative of the company’s broader sustainability
with some pens in it by now. While the French fans were drive. Budweiser has pledged that every bottle of beer it
celebrating a near-certain World Cup victory, the Croatians brews by will be powered by renewable energy by 2025.
lamented the finish of the country’s most magical World While the company’s renewable energy goals are the key
Cup run to date. focus, smaller conservation initiatives like the ReCup
Arena help show the brewery is committed to the mission.
Though the moods were polar opposites, the cups they
are drinking from were the same—adorned with unique The first event on the plastic pitch will be the World
Budweiser designs, many of the 3.2 million given out Cup REplay. Budweiser will extend an invitation to local
during the World Cup were taken home as souvenirs. Yet, Sochi residents. For now, the only game play on the
many more were recycled at the stadiums, and Budweiser, pitch was the unveiling during which former Italian star
Marco Materazzi—who was
on the receiving end of an
infamous headbutt from
France’s Zinedine Zidane in
the 2006 World Cup—helped
break in the new field. “For
a month, millions of tourists
from all over the world were
united by the real football
celebration atmosphere,”
Materazzi said. “I am very
glad that Budweiser, an
official sponsor of the
tournament, shares the idea
of preserving the legacy
with help from a World Cup local organizing committee, of the FIFA World Cup and continues to build it up even
took 50,000 of those recycled cups and created a field, after the tournament.” Budweiser has been the official
the Budweiser ReCup, where kids from Sochi could reenact beer sponsor of the World Cup for over 30 years. It had
their own Mbappé moments. a relationship of similar duration with The Olympics, but
that partnership ended in 2017. But activations like the
Budweiser, official sponsors of last year’s World Cup in
Russia, has furthered its commitment to sustainability ReCup Arena indicate Budweiser may be here to stay when
by creating a unique football pitch made from recycled it comes to the World Cup. “Hopefully, this pitch will
Budweiser Red Light Cups that were collected during last remind us of the past tournament and, probably, will help
summer’s FIFA World Cup. someone start a promising football career,” said Konstantin
Tamirov, marketing director of Anheuser Busch InBev Efes.
(Courtesy: Adweek)

Plastics News April 2019 24