Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - USC will conduct its annual Zero Waste football game Saturday evening when the Trojans face Stanford at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, part of the Pac-12 Conference's attempt to encourage diversion of waste materials from landfills.
The Pac-12's Zero Waste Challenge is a competition at a selected football and men's basketball game. The diversion counts toward 50% of determining the winner. Developing partnerships counts for 25%.
The remaining 25% is based on "innovation credit," how the university identifies the impacts of the competition through engagement with the campus, tailgates, organizations, sponsors, fans, contributions and community.
USC won the Pac-12 zero waste competition in football in 2016, 2017 and 2021 and the fan engagement award in 2022 when it achieved a 91.3% diversion rate for its Zero Waste Game, including over three tons of recycling and over five tons of compost.
USC won the competition in men's basketball for the 2021-22 season.
"Zero waste" is defined as when 90% or more of waste materials are diverted from landfills through recycling or composting. (It is not defined as 100% because some fans bring their own non-compostable products, according to the stadium's website.)
USC Athletics is part of the United Nations Sports For Climate Action initiative, joining hundreds of professional teams and organizations in an attempt to help combat climate change and champion sustainability.