India’s cricket control board wants stadiums to “go green”

• A single cricket match in India generates, on an average, about 3-4.5 tons of waste, particularly the plastic kind.
• Acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Amitabh Choudhary, and Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment signed a letter of intent on Sunday to promote ‘green’ cricket in India.
  
• The idea is to try and encourage the spectators to avoid using single-use plastic bottles and cups and eventually phase it out completely.

The fact that India is a cricket-crazy nation is no secret, but a single cricket match in India generates, on an average, about 3-4.5 tons of waste, particularly the plastic kind. And that is a matter of grave concern.

However, taking cognisance of this environmental problem, acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Amitabh Choudhary, and Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment signed a letter of intent on Sunday to promote ‘green’ cricket in India.

The idea is to try and encourage the spectators to avoid using single-use plastic bottles and cups during the matches and eventually phase out the use of these items in cricket stadiums across India altogether.

“The partnership aims to spread greater awareness about key environmental challenges facing the country, and highlight alternate and more sustainable solutions. The BCCI will endeavour to reduce its environmental impact by greening operations and engaging cricketers and fans in green initiatives,” said the BCCI in a statement.

BCCI in collaboration with other key players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has already boosted their efforts to nudge spectators to avoid using plastic.

In fact, during the IPL a video featuring the captains of the cricket teams was played out educating the spectators of harmful effects of plastic pollution. And a Green Protocol based on the 3Rs concept – reduce, reuse and recycle – was implemented during the four IPL matches played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

At the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, the Karnataka State Cricket Association provided environment-friendly alternatives to plastic cups and bottles for over 32,000 fans.

Also, waste management firms, municipalities and non-profit organisations for the first time ever assessed the amount of plastic waste generated during the recent IPL matches and actively implemented a plan to segregate waste.

Of these, Hasiru Dala Innovations, a Bengaluru-based waste management services company responsible for handling the waste generated by select food stands at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, reported a staggering approximate of seven tons of garbage being generated during 10 IPL matches held in May.

And this was despite efforts being implemented to “reduce waste generation and maximize waste segregation at the stadium,” Shekar Prabhakar, managing director and founder of Hasiru Dala Innovations, told CGTN.