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Burnley 2021

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Policy and Commitment

Clean/Renewable Energy

  • 100% renewable energy at the stadium and training ground through renewable energy provider
  • Feasibility studies are being around the installation of solar at the stadium

Energy Efficiency

  • Club is ESOS compliant and has undergone energy audits to identify energy saving opportunities and carbon reduction strategies across the Stadium and training ground
  • LED lighting used including floodlights
  • Phased program of replacing older lighting with more efficient LED lighting with any new lighting installations required to be LED
  • Since 2013 Burnley Football Club have partnered with an energy management consultancy, to become a more sustainable and energy efficient club
  • Club is working with its energy partner to identify solutions to reduce its energy waste and carbon output and improve performance of electrical equipment across the estate. The club has introduced standard operating procedures across all match day functions which give specific instructions to staff in the areas of start-up and shut down processes, in order to reduce the amount of time of peak energy consumption
  • Electric mowers are being introduced in the Stadium and Training Ground, as existing petrol mowers reach the end of their life. To date three petrol mowers have been replaced by electric
  • The training ground has a state of the art Building Management System (BMS) which is being commissioned as part of the North Stand refurbishment, which will ensure maximum efficiency in the use of heating and lighting, it will lead to an expected 50% improvement in energy efficiencies
  • Working with consultancy to implement BMS’s in other areas scheduled for refurbishment or by retro-fitting
  • Cleaning products have been changed to a high concentrated formula which is diluted on site via a dispensing system. This reduces bulk and weight when being transported and reduces the volume of waste
  • One oil fired boiler decommissioned and replaced with high efficiency, low-fuel consumption boiler with second boiler to be decommissioned by the end of the season
  • A scheme to super-insulate areas of the stadium and training ground is currently being designed
  • Burnley Football Club takes sustainability seriously and is in the process of building a new energy policy which will be used to educate staff on the importance of carbon reduction and reducing energy waste -partnership formed with Nelson and Colne College group to develop a sustainability education programme which will be rolled out to staff during 2022

Sustainable Transport

  • Accessible by train and bus
  • Work closely with our local bus companies, supporting public transport methods where possible
  • The club provides bike racks and storage boxes for staff and visitors at the stadium to encourage less people to travel by car and actively support the Governments ‘cycle to work scheme’
  • Showers and changing facilities provided for ‘cycle to work scheme’
  • ‘Car share scheme’ established and operated by the 1st team players, where they have purchased a minibus to transport themselves to and from training sessions during the week
  • There 3 Electric Vehicle charging points at the Stadium
  • No matchday unreserved parking on stadium car parks. The 2021/22 number of parking spaces available for reservation reduced by around 45 spaces
  • The buggy that staff use to travel around the training ground is electric
  • Where travel between the stadium and training ground is required by players and playing staff, a mini-bus shuttle service operates, reducing the number of car journeys that are made
  • A detailed travel plan will be developed in the early part of 2022 and will highlight sustainable methods of travelling to the stadium and training ground
  • Charging points will be installed at the training ground before the end of the 2021/22 season

Single Use Plastic Reduction/Removal

  • Removed the supply and use of single use plastic water bottles at the training ground; providing the playing, coaching and back room staff with reusable plastic bottles
  • Further investigation is taking place at the stadium to introduce a similar scheme
  • Removed the use of plastic carrier bags in the Clarets Store and replaced them with recyclable paper bags with purchase; previously around 5,000 plastic bags a year were issued
  • Burnley FC Hospitality have replaced single use plastic straws with biodegradable alternatives
  • Spray bottles are now refilled from dispensers, rather than being single use, previously, around 3,000 single use spray bottles a year were purchased
  • Through 2022 all areas of the club will be asked to review how they use plastics, and look for alternative products, or work with suppliers and changing their processes

Waste Management

  • The club has a waste management strategy where all recyclable or recoverable waste is removed by the waste handler
  • Annually less than 3% of waste goes to landfill
  • Unrecovered waste is incinerated and used to generate electricity
  • Burnley FC has developed a partnership with a company that recycles IT equipment.  Old IT equipment is either broken down into component parts and recycled or is refurbished for reuse.  In return for our old equipment the recycling company will donate trees to be planted on Burnley FC and Burnley FC in the Community sites (Winter 2021/22 – tree planting season)
  • Burnley FC has also developed a partnership with a furniture recycling company, with the aim of ensuring that old/broken furniture is fully recycled, or refurbished for re-use, rather than it going to landfill
  • Plastics, cardboard and glass are separated at source and are then further processed at the recycling plant
  • Recycling bins are used at the stadium and training ground, but these aren’t supporter/customer facing
  • Work closely with waste collection providers to ensure our ambition to be a zero-waste organisation is embraced and worked towards
  • Used cooking oil is recycled into bio-diesel
  • Through 2022 the club will ensure that all new purchases/products are accompanied by a sustainable disposal strategy. If a sustainable disposable solution is not possible then strict criteria will be required to be met before purchase is authorised

Water Efficiency

  • The stadium is currently undergoing a programme of toilet cistern replacement in its concourse areas.  New toilet cisterns use between 3 and 6L on a dual flush system compared to the 11L single flush cistern they replace. One corporate area has also undergone a complete refurbishment with similar reduced capacity toilets installed and 22% of cisterns have currently been replaced
  • Concourse urinals in the Bob Lord Stand, and 50% of the Cricket Field Stand are waterless. This totals 96 of 333 urinals (29%) in the stadium. All other urinals in the stadium have their water consumption controlled by cistermisers. Through the first half of 2022 all these urinals will be made waterless
  • In approximately 50% of the stadium, volume of water used by supporters on match days by introducing ‘flow aerators’ into all concourse and lounge toilet taps, reducing the water volume of individual WC flushes
  • Consumption reduction devices are fitted to all taps throughout the stadium and training ground
  • The club has an extraction licence for the River Calder from which 25m3 of water per day can be extracted, although due to weather conditions and storage capacity this does not happen every day. Extracted water accounts for around 10% of total water usage on site, reducing consumption of treated water
  • Wastewater from the training ground is treated on site and discharged to the River Calder. No waste or surface water is sent to water treatment works

Plant based/low carbon food

  • Vegan and vegetarian options are available in hospitality areas and at the training ground
  • Vegetarian options are available via concourse and fan zone outlets on a match day
  • Approximately 50% of food suppliers are local. Work with catering suppliers to ensure where possible, the procurement and supply chain is sustainable with produce locally grown. For example, beef is sourced from the Ribble Valley (10 miles away), match day pie provider is also 10 miles away

Biodiversity

  • The training ground is habitat to a number of protected species, snipes, bats, voles, newts and various flora
  • Regular surveys are undertaken to ensure that the activities of the club are not having a detrimental effect on these species
  • Landscaping work is planned to ensure that species of plant and tree are used that are supportive to the habit
  • Non-Lethal bird control methods (hawks) are used within the stadium to reduce nuisance birds and avoid unintended impacts on non-target protected populations

Education

  • Burnley FC and Burnley FC in the Community will work together to support young people from our community in the delivery of the Premier League Inspires Challenge. This year the Challenge asks young people to investigate and present opportunities for their football club to operate in a more sustainable manner
  • In 2022 Burnley FC staff will have the opportunity to participate in sustainability awareness workshops. These will be delivered with the intention of embedding sustainable operations into the decision-making processes across all departments

Communication and Engagement

  • Club Statement available on website https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/more/more-club/customer-charter-policies
  • A supporters group ‘Sustainable Burnley FC’ has recently been established. The club will engage with the group in respect of informing them of our work and progress, and where appropriate, also to utilise the knowledge and expertise of individuals in informing our decisions and priorities
  • A page will be built on the Burnley FC website in the coming months which illustrates the Sustainability Policy, our action plan, and celebrates the work that has and is taking place
  • Burnley FC in the Community are part of the Planet Super League project (winning the competition in Summer 2021).  This project encourages and engages with our fans and the wider community to make positive behaviour change in their own lives and homes
  • Via its communication channels, the Club will support Burnley FC in the Community in the next round of the Planet Super League competition, which engages with fans and the community and challenges them to make small changes to their behaviour and habits, which reduce their carbon footprint. Previously there has been good engagement with this competition, and it is hoped that with the support of the Burnley FC media channels that this engagement can be significantly increased. Fans of Burnley FC won this competition last season.

Additional information

Information sourced directly from Burnley F.C. staff, website and third party websites
Information updated 21 January, 2022
For previous information from 2019 and 2020 click here