The English Premier League has teamed up with Sky to encourage clubs and fans to stop using single-use plastics at football matches.
The announcement is part of greater efforts from the organisation to tackle waste at games, which can individually generate up to 750,000 plastic bottles and seven tonnes of waste, according to the UK government.
Last week the environment secretary Michael Gove called on the Premier League to help tackle plastic pollution troubles in England, looking into schemes such as deposit return schemes for cups at matches.
They will be supported by specialist teams of plastics experts who are dedicated to helping businesses reduce single-use plastic usage.
Richard Scudamore, executive chairman, Premier League, says: “We are extremely proud to be joining Sky Ocean Rescue in the fight to save our oceans.
“As an organisation with a global audience we, and our clubs, are able to encourage people around the world to think and take positive action to reduce their use of plastic.”
One club leading the way is Tottenham Hotspur. Its state-of- the-art new stadium, due to open next season, will be free from plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and its retail outlets will phase out standard 5p carrier bags.
A handful of sport stadiums, such as Twickenham, have already introduced a deposit return scheme for ‘fan cups’, where supporters pay an extra £1 for their cup and then get the money back when they return it to the bar.
And plastic balloons were banned at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
The Premier League initiative follows an nnouncement made on Wednesday, where more than 40 of the UK’s largest businesses signed a groundbreaking ‘Plastics Pact’ committing to making 100% of packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
The move is the first of its kind in the world and has united 42 household names including supermarkets such as Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons.
These businesses are responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets.