Tottenham Hotspur will eliminate single-use plastics from new stadium

One of England’s leading football clubs has become the latest high-profile name to announce plans to fight plastic pollution.

Tottenham Hotspur is pledging to eliminate all plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery from the opening day of its new £850 million stadium in north London.

None of these items will be stocked in future nor will alternatives come in disposable plastic packaging.

All new supplier contracts will also contain a requirement to reduce single-use plastics and the club will replace its current 5p carrier bags with ones which are biodegradable.

Chairman Daniel Levy said: “I am delighted that we shall be bringing our values to the new stadium to both play our part in the reduction of single-use plastics and raise awareness of the importance of doing so.”

Its ban on single-use plastics will extend to all parts of the club, including premium areas within the stadium, and its One Hotspur membership scheme. Members will now receive a Bag for Life when the next season starts.

The new 62,000 seated venue is a replacement to the now demolished White Hart Lane site, its traditional home for over 100 years. The stadium is planned for completion in 2018 having been under construction for the past three years.

“As a club we have always taken our responsibility to care for our environment seriously. We have demonstrated this with the environmentally sensitive development of our Training Centre, where we have preserved historic hedgerows and planted for the future and which will see us adding an Environmental Centre and Nature Reserve there too. Another first by the club,” Levy added.

Football clubs in the English Premier League have slowly started to incorporate more sustainable practices within their operations, often prompted by new building schemes. Manchester City’s training academy, for example, was built to the highest environmental standards, including sustainable water and waste initiatives.

              Tottenham's new stadium should be ready for the new 2018/2019 season