TSG switches to reusable cups

"This is another major step on the way to achieving our ambitious environmental objectives", says TSG Managing Director, Dr. Peter Görlich. "We are deliberately not making a knee-jerk reaction, but rather are acting on the basis of clear facts and our own conviction to act correctly." The switch to reusable cups is another building block within the framework of the future-oriented strategy "TSG is movement" and serves the purpose of resolute climate and environmental protection.

Thanks to PreZero, the specialist in the management of recyclable materials based in Neckarsulm, whose name has graced the TSG Arena for a year, the pros and cons of a reusable solution were carefully weighed up and scientifically researched. "We examined the flows of recyclable materials closely," says PreZero Managing Director, Dietmar Böhm. Based on a sold-out arena, a total of around 22,000 cups (0.5 L), 2,500 coffee cups and 5,000 mulled wine cups are given out at the bar per game. The previously used 0.5 L disposable cups are made of polylactide (PLA), which cannot be suitably composted or recycled in Germany.

Therefore, the thoughts about overhauling the entire system gained momentum, and finally the best possible alternative was found for the PreZero Arena. The new cups, available in both the 0.3 L and 0.5 L sizes (with different line measures depending on the cold drink), are made of durable polyethylene (PE). "They can be washed up to 400 times," explains the recycling expert, Böhm. Thus the most important target – namely achieving a better eco-balance than the disposable cups – has already been exceeded. As a rule of thumb, the more often cups are used, the more sustainable they are in comparison with disposable cups, as this saves the production of new cups. Over 17 home games per season, a total of around half a million cups have landed in the bin until now.

A particularly positive note for TSG Hoffenheim is that the new cups from the Sinsheimer Arena are washed at the nearby Schwarz restaurant in Stiftsberg, Neckarsulm. This means the cups only have to make a simple journey of about 30 kilometres.

The decision-makers at TSG and PreZero also put a lot of thought into the appropriate deposit system. The insights gained from the sale of hot drinks, which have recently been issued in reusable cups without a deposit, helped here. However, a maximum of one-third of these cups was returned to the kiosks and fed into the system for reuse. The rest were thrown away, meaning that they could not be used again.