How circular economy models can make plastic waste at marathons sustainable

This study designs, implements, and evaluates a circular economy initiative to manage plastic waste at a marathon (Maratona Alzheimer in Italy), offering a scalable model for sustainable event planning. Sport events, especially running races, generate large volumes of single-use plastic waste contained in a number of products such as food containers, drinks bottles, clothing, goodies and bags. Current “plastic-free” approaches to mitigate this waste issue often ignore economic and social factors like hygiene, practicality, user safety and low cost for the organisation. This paper provides a rare, data-driven, and fully implemented case of a circular waste management system based on sorting, collection, and recycling of plastics.

The authors collected quantitative data across the entire lifecycle of plastic waste, from distribution to final treatment, involving all relevant stakeholders. They used a Plan–Do–Check–Act framework and 11 sustainability KPIs ( reflecting environmental, economic, and social dimensions), to assess performance versus previous event editions. Results showed strong environmental gains: plastic collection efficiency improved by 120%, recycling rates increased by 157%, and landfill waste dropped by 75%. Economically, the model becomes cost-effective when virgin PET (i.e. plastic material) prices exceed €776/ton. Socially, participants rated the initiative highly and reported feeling engaged and informed.

For sport event organizers, this model demonstrates that investing in structured circular systems — supported by training, infrastructure, and cross-sector partnerships — can deliver measurable sustainability improvements without abandoning the use of plastic altogether.

CITE: Bianchini, A., & Rossi, J. (2021). Design, implementation and assessment of a more sustainable model to manage plastic waste at sport events. Journal of Cleaner Production, 281, 125345. Doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125345

#Recycling #Marathon #CircularEconomy #PlasticWaste #Sustainability