Sustainability at 2020 Auckland Marathon

IRONMAN Oceania is committed to a robust sustainability plan, a key part of which is post-event clean-up of any waste, whether it is directly related to the event itself or not. This applies to any event under our management, not just the Auckland Marathon.

All of the plastic cups used on event are part of that sustainability plan and are 100% made from recyclable plastic and are collected post event for further recycling. The material used is high-quality recycled PET, meaning it can be recycled over and over again.

As is the case on all IRONMAN managed events, the cleanup of the entire 42km course and venues used on the Auckland Marathon continued into the night last night and throughout today (final sweeps take place Monday evening), with the Race Director leading the course sweep to ensure that we remove any impact or footprint of the race. This is normal practice at all of our events to work closely with all of our stakeholders, participants and contractors to remove any impact we have made on the environment.

100% of that waste is then sorted back of house, to ensure that the material is separated and sent on to the appropriate destination. By using the one high-quality recycled rPET material for the cups the event ensures there is no cross-contamination at aid stations with other waste streams, with the rPET cups taken to Visy Recycling in Auckland for processing. All other waste from the event is sorted into correct streams, including compost being sent to Envirofert to minimize landfill.

IRONMAN Oceania is in year two of a five-year plan to minimize waste and the impact on the environment, that plan is constantly being updated and changed to reflect gains in science and accepted best practice in this area.

Other measures introduced in 2019/2020 include:

• All aid station cups completely rPET 100% recyclable across the course
• All onsite vendors to use compostable packaging
• Onsite free water stations at Victoria Park, encourage reusable personal water bottles
• All gear bags for competitors are reusable tote bags
• 3 bin waste stream system with all waste (waste, recycling, organics)
• Waste is then sorted back of house into correct waste streams to minimize landfill
• Phasing out of plastic ties – reusable toggles used on all banner-mesh advertising