AEG hosts upwards of 100 million guests annually. Fans attend more than 40 music festivals, 10,000 shows, 22,000 live events, and 150 venues ranging from intimate rock clubs to soaring arenas each year.



The solution to serving 20,000 people food and beverages has been to use single-use servic Israel Telegram Number Data eware,” observes John Marler, vice president of energy and environment at AEG. That service model will likely be changing.” Yet switching to silverware and china across the board isn’t realistic so the company is looking at each use case to figure out the best approach.

Marler will be speaking about waste management in the entertainment industry at the 2019 Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference (ELEMCON) this May. Recently we caught up with him to learn more about AEG’s approach.

We currently have a 70% diversion from landfill goal for 2020, and we have been making progress toward that. For 2017 we were at 55% worldwide.

In the last 18 months or so, with developments from China’s new policy to greater attention paid to single-use items, we realized that the waste and recycling side of the business is in for huge changes. Our strategy is to figure out how to respond to those changes in a way that’s cost-effective and environmentally responsible.



We’re doing a soup-to-nuts audit and asking, “Is there a better way for this specific item?” We’re looking at anything you would see in one of our buildings. Is it nacho and hotdog boats? What kind of cups are you serving your beer and soft drinks in? Does it come with a lid? How are you doling out condiments? Last year we started with straws. It helps to phase them out or switch to paper.

What we’ve come around to is that recycling is not a long-term sustainable model. We have to look heavily at reducing — phasing single-use items out entirely — and reusing, perhaps with a circular service model. That’s on our 2019 slate of projects.