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Motorpoint Arena Nottingham celebrates greenest event day in history

As part of its ongoing Greener Arena campaign, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham celebrated its greenest event day in history – demonstrating its commitment to reducing its environmental impact.

The popular live entertainment and sports venue successfully used the lowest ever electricity consumption for any event day on Friday 15 March, beating the previous amount by 1000 kWh, as well as the lowest ever water consumption.

The day was marked Greener Arena Day, with team members working together to champion the venue’s eco-friendly initiatives and innovative environmental solutions. The day also coincided with the showing of Blue Planet 2 Live – a show spectacular famed for raising awareness of the impact of plastic pollution across the globe.

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham has coined its variety of environmental solutions under the umbrella of ‘Greener Arena’. From its roof solar panels and waste water system, to biodegradable poly-cups and recycled paper, the venue has a dedicated environmental group that regularly looks for new ways to reduce energy usage and keep fellow team members motivated to think green.

In December 2017, the Arena became the first UK indoor entertainment and sports venue to introduce eco-friendly cups to reduce the amount of plastic. The cups are made from polypropylene and are both fully reusable and recyclable, being used on a wash rotation for up to five years. At the end of their life, they are turned into items including coat hangers and ice scrapers. Since their launch, over 310,000 pints have been sold.

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham is also a zero-landfill venue, with 40 per cent of its waste recycled. Waste that is not recycled goes into an incinerator, which is then turned into electricity and heat to power the building.

The Arena has reduced its energy consumption by over 20 per cent in the last five years, and recycled paper is used throughout the majority of the business. It has also developed bespoke systems to significantly reduce its water consumption, with the water tanks cleverly collecting would-have-been waste water to help make new ice for the rinks.

During this year’s Greener Arena Day, team members made environmental pledges in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint; including taking public transport to and from the workplace, going paperless, opting for the stairs and not the lifts, using reusable water bottles and cutlery, and turning off any unnecessary lighting.

The day was a great success – with the Arena generating a total of 1063 kWh of electricity from the solar panels. Between the hours of 11am to midday, all the electricity used around the Arena was accounted for by the solar panels.

Lee Chadburn, Head of Facilities at Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, said: “We have built some real momentum engraining environmental and sustainability into the culture of our business over the last few years. Our industry doesn’t lend itself to changing processes and systems overnight, but we are leading the way we operate environmentally compared to other arenas.

“We are also flying the flag for Nottingham and sustainability within the country’s most environmentally progressive city. We have deliberately set very ambitious environmental targets. We’re not perfect but continue to take steps towards sustainability at every opportunity.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Budge .