Policy and Commitment
- Dedicated sustainability webpage with sustainability strategy, https://www.canaries.co.uk/club/sustainability – press the arrow to see short-term targets, videos and events which include Greenest Matchday that took place against Leeds in November
- Member of BASIS (British Association of Sustainability in Sport) and attend regular workshops with the intention of producing a long-term policy and strategy
- Study visits with other BASIS members foster such opportunities, with the Club next conducting a visit to the All England Tennis Club (home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships) in February 2022.
- In-house sustainability working group which was established in 2019
- From in-house strategy set up and continually reviewing and discussing short, medium, and long terms goals that working towards as a group
- Communicate internally with staff, and externally with fans regularly on ways they can get involved
- The Club created a Supporter Panel in 2019, to ensure there was a platform in which to communicate directly with the fans on topical issues – which includes sustainability.
- As per the club’s annual general report released this financial year, the club’s main objectives/strategy for 2021/22 season are:
- Reduce the Clubs baseline electricity consumption by 2%.
- Lighting: Continue to evolve and install low energy lighting across the Clubs policies.
- Reviewing supply contracts to determine feasibility of renewable energy.
- Continual review of existing office equipment and Club policies.
- Preparation for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme phase 3 assessments.
Clean/Renewable Energy
- NCFC uses electricity that is 100% generated from renewable sources
- The Club’s training ground has undergone extensive construction in recent seasons and the commitment to deliver clean energy has been at the forefront of these projects, with 192 Solar Panels having been installed on both the newly erected Academy and Gym Buildings to provide a source of clean, renewable energy
Energy Efficiency
- Building management system across all sites
- Most of the emergency lighting with LED throughout the stadium
- Vast majority of the lighting is either LED or HF florescent lighting and most concourse areas have occupancy sensors to stop lights being left on.
- At Carrow Road a three-year rolling programme is in place to change all stadium lighting to LED lamps.
- Electric car charging points have been installed at Lotus Training and have sourced quotes with a view of extending the amount of charging ports as well as introducing these at the stadium. We are currently working on phase 3 assessments in preparation for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme. At Carrow Road voltage optimisation is in place to reduce energy costs.
- At the Lotus Training Centre solar energy transmittance and light transmittance values of the external glazing were carefully considered for the new Academy building in order to control solar gains and to maximise daylight respectively, therefore reducing the need of electric lighting.
- The energy strategy for the development proposals at the Academy has, at its core, the reduction of energy use through effective ‘fabric first’ energy efficiency measures and efficient (low power) services solutions. Through analysis using IES (Thermal Dynamic Simulation Software) the scheme achieves Energy Performance Asset Rating ‘A’
- The building is sustainably heated by air source heat pumps coupled with Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery and on-site energy is generated by a 62-kilowatt array of photovoltaic panels.
Sustainable Transport
- Actively advocate for fans/staff to use sustainable transport, with sustainable access available to the Ground via public transport routes
- Most prominently, during our ‘Greenest Matchday’ fans were asked to come to ground via bus
- Electric car points are located at the training ground, and bike racks are available at both sites
- Following a review at the start of the 2021-22 season, we have reduced Directors flights this season by 90% and will continue to make further improvements
- The Academy too has reviewed it’s travel to fixtures. Whilst hampered somewhat by a geographical remoteness, it has pioneered ‘triangular fixtures’ playing two teams at central venues on the same day, to reduce the number of miles travelled without impacting the playing minutes available to the players
- Besides the saved coach miles for the teams, it further saves thousands of miles of car travel for supporting parents and guardians travelling to watch
- We have a Cycle to work scheme in place and encourage staff regularly to utilise the scheme.
- Fan travel surveys are conducted once per year
Single Use Plastic Reduction/Removal
- Single Use Plastic reduction policy in place
- Match days are single use plastic free
- Working with our sustainability partner Kotkamills the Club no longer uses condiment sachets or straws
- The club now use wooden sporks; plastic ones have been removed
- Eradicated any use of plastic drinking cups and food boxes leading to over 100,000 single use plastic items no longer being used each season
- Throughout the concourses plastic water bottles have been swapped for cardboard recyclable water cartons
Waste Management
- Waste diversion includes recycling, glass, and general waste collections
- Active waste diversion system internally, but current waste management providers limit our ability to fully divert from landfill
- At the Lotus Training Centre, a compost heap for raw food and grass cutting is in place to reduce landfill waste. Compost is in turn used to feed our on-site allotment producing our own organic fruit and vegetables to supplement the players’ daily food menu
- All staff are encouraged to only print when necessary. Default setting on all printers is black & white and double sided. The paper used by the Club is 100% recycled.
- New bins on site externally at the training ground and internally in the staff offices now at both sites to support waste segregation
- At the Lotus Training Centre a compost heap for raw food and grass cutting is in place to reduce landfill waste. Compost is in turn used to feed our on site allotment producing our own organic fruit and vegetables to supplement the players’ daily food menu
- Delia’s Canary Catering targets this season are to:-
- Reduce food waste by 10%
- Reduce where possible non-recyclable products purchased from our suppliers by 33% and continue to look for more environmentally conscious products
- Improve customer recycling rate by 60% with the introduction of segregation bins in concourses and hospitality lounges
- Improve back of house recycling rate by 80% with the introduction of segregation bins in back of house areas.
- Together with our technical kit partner Joma we worked hard to make this seasons shirt as sustainable as possible and we are delighted to have produced a shirt where the fabric is made from fully recycled polyester
- The Club are continuing to work alongside its sustainability partner, Kotkamills, industry leaders providing fully recyclable, sustainable paperboard made from wood that is traceable and sourced from controlled forests
- We use the message of #GreenerTogether to promote the work this partnership is doing within the club.
- The Lotus Training Ground now maintains a compost heap for raw food and grass cutting to reduce landfill waste.
Water Efficiency
- Water efficiency policy in place at both sites (Carrow Road and Lotus Training Ground)
- At Carrow Road the pitch is watered with a bore hole.
- At the Lotus Training Ground, pitch irrigation system recycles the water from the pitches which is then pumped into a sizeable tank and is then taken and sprayed onto the pitches
- In times of low rainfall, there is another bore hole where water is taken
- This system was part of the extensive renovations at the Training Ground between 2018 – 2020, and whilst incurred significant additional cost to implement, highlights the commitment to embed sustainable practice within the Club where feasible
- Implemented a waste to water system used to clean all machinery Waterless urinals are being installed at The Lotus Training Centre at the end of January 2022, with a view to exploring further areas of Stadium that could utilise similar systems in the future
Plant based/low carbon food
- At the Stadium, all restaurants have a vegan option available and Vegan pies available in concourse areas. As part of our ‘Greenest Matchday ‘ we engaged with fans and offered a discount of vegan pies
- At the Lotus Training Ground there is a continual daily vegan option available, and plant-based consumption is encouraged within nutritional diet plan where appropriate
- Use locally grown produce from local suppliers as well as home-grown produce from the on-site allotment
- The Club also developed a ‘Player Nutrition App’ in 2021, which has numerous recipes (and extensive plant-based options) to showcase meal ideas for players and staff to create at home
- This App is available to all staff and players at the training ground, and is regularly updated by the Club’s Nutritionist to encourage people to cut down on meat consumption
Biodiversity
- Biodiversity strategy in place to increase biodiversity at both sites with the herb garden, allotment, worm and insect hotels, bird feeders, beehives
- Over 250 wildflowers distributed to Junior Canaries at Greenest Matchday.
- Will continue in 2022 to plant trees and ensure plants, animals and ecosystems are conserved and protected.
- Dedicated Gardener whose responsibilities include furthering our biodiversity and wildlife appreciation where possible
- At The Lotus Training Centre, planted wildflower seeds have a herb garden, worm and insect hotels, bird feeders and an outside seating area
- This is a key area within our internal sustainability groups’ policy and strategy plans, and after recently visiting a local beehive, we have chosen to have two onsite beehives which will be in place by April 2022
- At the Lotus Training Centre, we have recently begun offsetting our carbon footprint– to date, we have planted over 645 new and semi-mature trees including apple trees and plum trees and over 800 new plants, hedges, bushes, and flowers across our Training Centre to create an environmentally friendly habitat
Education
- Visited other sites for our research and ideas with an internal working group aim to increase the numbers and variety of visits this year
- Academy players have been educated on environmental sustainability/climate change as part of their scholarship programme, and we utilise our on-site projects to actively get our Schoolboy players involved as a part of their life-skills programme. The sessions form an important strand of the Academy’s ‘Player Voice’ and ‘Dual Career’ programmes, whereby the players are supported and given the freedom to develop interests in areas they are keen to explore outside of football
- This is a yearly programme, led by Player Care team, with an hour dedicated each week within each player’s timetable. Each week, our staff newsletter contains a piece on sustainability either as an education piece, task, or competition
- The Academy players have been at the forefront of our drive on sustainability, helping to support the wider social action plan of our Community Sports Foundation. As part of the Premier League Inspires Challenge, Scholars’ have attended a local community School to engage with students who are currently designing and planning positive changes for the environment, and our Club.
- During this time the Academy players’ have provided the students with a detailed account of how the training ground, Club and Foundation are working cohesively together, to drive positive change. But, also providing an honest and reflective account of areas within the Club that they feel could benefit from initiative and innovation, to help us become more sustainable.
- The students will now take time to design their projects for the challenge, under the supervision of our Foundation staff, and will present their ideas to a judging panel on Wednesday 23rd February 2022. It is hoped that the panel will have Scholar representatives, to provide feedback and congratulations to the students and their ideas.
- After a successful ‘Greenest Matchday’, looking to repeat this event on a regular basis and use it to further educate Staff and Fans, communicate current, future, and on-going projects, and ways they can be involved.
- Exploring external companies that can support us in both education and furthering our progress through our short-, medium- and long-term goals. We are active members of BASIS, using their knowledge and resources as vital education tools to working group
Communication and Engagement
- Dedicated webpages/club news where we have produced educational pieces and informative videos on sustainable developments by the club, players and staff
- Dedicated sustainability page on our Junior Canaries website which has ideas and initiatives to engage with our junior canaries and younger fan base: https://www.juniorcanaries.co.uk/sustainability
- Club wide objective this season is to find ways to protect the club’s resources and adopt sustainable environmental and financial practices
- The club actively engages with fans and dedicated an entire matchday against Leeds – our ‘Greenest Matchday’ where discount was offered to those fans travelling by public transport. We were also able to promote the benefits of reusable cups/water bottles and offer a discounted price on these to encourage fans to purchase them.
- Guide released for fans to go greener: https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/norwich-city-football-club-fans-being-more-sustainable-8451414
- Finalist in the Basis awards this season for ‘Club Strategy/Strategic Leadership’ with a key focus on our approaches to reducing single-use plastics and overall active developments in adopting more sustainable practices
- Club partners are encouraged to take on the same principles of sustainability and implement changes in their own businesses.
- Internal commitment made within in-house strategy to educate the next generations on sustainability through our Academy, Junior Canaries and Community Sports Foundation, and individuals and department leads have also been tasked to pledge ways in their personal and business life to reduce their impact on the environment.
- Involved with Planet Super League, which supports fan engagement on sustainability in their own lives
Additional information
Information sourced directly from Norwich City F.C. staff, website and third party websites
Information updated 22 January, 2022
To see information from 2019, click here