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Tottenham Hotspur 2021

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Policy and Commitment

  • The Club has published its Sustainability Policy on the Official Website
  • The Club is a signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, including the high ambition track ‘Race To Zero, committing to halving emissions by 2030 and being net zero carbon by 2040
  • The Club reports its annual carbon emissions data via its Financial Results and, in 2021, became the first to deliver a net zero carbon Premier League match, with emissions data also released via an in-depth case study
  • The Club has made an application through the British Standards Institution for an ISO20121 sustainability standard
  • Member of the British Association for Sustainability in Sport and the first football club to become a member of Products of Change – a global educational hub aimed at driving sustainable change across consumer product markets and beyond

Clean/Renewable Energy

  • The Club has achieved 100% certified renewable energy and zero scope 2 emissions, with REGO-backed electricity and carbon neutral gas provided to the stadium by Brook Green Supply
  • The Club has put technologies in place throughout its Training Centre to deliver renewable energy to the development, including 75m2 Solar Panels and air source heat pumps
  • VivoPower, the Club’s Official Battery Technology Partner, recently completed feasibility studies to assess initial opportunities for sustainable energy solutions at both Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Club’s Hotspur Way Training Centre in Enfield
  • The Club is now working with VivoPower to finalise the scope of the Phase 1 sustainable energy solutions. The Phase 1 projects aim to supply a significant portion of the Lilywhite House office’s energy requirements with on-site renewables and implement a proof-of-concept project at the Training Centre
  • Machinery used by our ground staff is electric

Energy Efficiency

  • Building management system in place across all properties developed by Schneider
  • The building fabric of the stadium has been designed to be highly insulated to reduce heating and cooling demands
  • Other aspects of the building design include insulation, solar shading and building fabric thermal performance that reduce the need for additional energy usage
  • Carbon dioxide emissions from the Stadium are around 50% less than a stadium built 10 years ago and the entire development is targeting a 22% improvement on the Building Regulations baseline
  • Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s technology infrastructure, developed in partnership with HPE and Aruba, allows for the consumption of less power during periods of low activity
  • LED lighting (including floodlights) and high-efficiency building services systems are in place to reduce energy use
  • A range of other initiatives are in place including intelligent controls, attenuation water tanks and green roofs on the Tottenham Experience
  • The Lodge (Spurs’ training facility) achieves a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ and achieves a 36.6% reduction in regulated carbon emissions meeting the London Plan target set for all major developments
  • Energy usage is reduced via high performance envelopes, passive ventilation strategies, efficient smart lighting and robust solar shading

Sustainable Transport

  • The Club has a sustainable transport plan in place for fans, staff and team travel, overseen by an appointed Travel Plan Coordinator
  • Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is actively promoted as a ‘Public Transport Destination’, with service improvements, new shuttle bus and regional coach services, better pedestrian connections, real-time travel information points, clear signage and regular transport updates on the Club’s website, in match day programmes and directly to fans from several sources
  • The Club has a written policy for sustainable green travel
  • Players now travel to matches on coaches powered by biofuel, reducing squad travel emissions by over 80%
  • The Club produced a video for its social media channels and match attenders’ emails this year providing an entertaining guide on how to travel to the stadium sustainably
  • The Club has installed bike racks locally around the stadium and is actively encouraging fans to consider cycling on match days – Club Ambassador, Michael Dawson, has cycled to match this season to further promote this option
  • The Club has a ‘Cycle To Work’ scheme for staff in conjunction with Cycle Solutions, with additional bike racks installed at its offices
  • Electric car charging points are available across Club sites, with discussions ongoing with VivoPower around the installation of solar car ports at the Training Centre
  • The Club surveys match attenders after every home game to understand how they travelled and inform our transport planning. Recent analysis has shown that the Club is close to achieving its target of no more than 23% of supporters (i.e. 14,250) travelling by private car on match days – a significant reduction in the percentage of fans that travelled by car to attend matches at the old White Hart Lane (on average 22,500 out of a total of 36,000)
  • Ahead of Game Zero, staff and fans were actively encouraged to take green travel options and surveyed following the match. Analysis showed fans walked 36,000 miles and drove 225,000 miles in electric or hybrid cars to and from the game

Single Use Plastic Reduction/Removal

  • Single use plastic reduction strategy across all club properties
  • Any new stadium contracts that come up for tender include a requirement to cut single-use plastics
  • Water fountains are available throughout general admission concourses
  • The Club’s fully digital ticketing process eliminates the need for plastic Season Ticket/Membership cards or paper tickets
  • The Club has implemented a reusable beer cup scheme at its stadium where cups are collected after matches, taken off site to be washed, and then returned for further use. The cup supplier is UK-based
  • Plastic caps on the beer kegs are saved and returned to the supplier to be reused. Caps are taken to a cup production plant and recycled into brand new products, such as parts for the building trade or even new keg caps themselves, reducing the stadium’s draught dispense single-use waste plastic by over 100kg’s per season
  • Stadium visitors are able to purchase a multi-use, reusable drawstring bag from one of our retails outlets at a cost of £1
  • Carton water is used by our players instead of bottled water at home and away matches, with refillable bottles used during training sessions
  • The packaging used for all Smartfish player nutrition products is recyclable paper cartons produced from sustainably managed forests
  • Eliminated use of plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and all plastic disposable packaging that accompanies these items, wooden stirrers and cutlery, and paper straws used in their place
  • Heineken, the Club’s Official Beer Partner, no longer supply single use plastic to the stadium – beer is supplied in cans or glass/aluminium bottles
  • No single-use plastics used to serve food inside premium areas
  • Sandwich packaging in The M is fully compostable
  • The Club and Nike are working in partnership on a range of sustainability initiatives, including the installation of a Grind Court, made from 18,000 recycled trainers, as part of an activation space accessible to young people within our local community seven days-a-week
  • Both the Nike shirts that players wear on the pitch and the replica jerseys for fans to buy are constructed with 100% recycled polyester fabric, which is made from recycled plastic bottles
  • Fans are able to purchase from our range of Retro Hangers, which are eco-friendly and 100% plastic-free, made from a revolutionary FSC-certified cellulose-based material
  • Single use plastic reduction measures page on the website

Waste Management

  • Zero waste to landfill across all sites
  • After matches, Dry Mixed Recycling bins are taken to a nearby Material Recovery Facility in Edmonton where the waste is separated to produce quality, single-stream materials that are then baled and sent to the most sustainable companies for re-processing
  • On a monthly average, stadium waste management programme equates to 16 cars being taken off the road, 151 trees being planted and 27 typical UK homes powered – a total monthly average energy saving of 106,513 kWh
  • Food remaining from events is given to The Felix Project charity for distribution locally, reducing food waste
  • Dry Mixed Recycling bins located throughout the stadium concourses, alongside General Waste bins, with fans instructed on how to correctly dispose of their waste – including social media infographics
  • A full site waste-management plan has been developed for the Training Centre, which includes a green-waste recycling facility nearby
  • Recycling page on website to educate fans

Water Efficiency

  • Water efficiency strategy in place across all club properties, always looking to expand water efficiency across all sites
  • Water consumption is minimised across the stadium with waterless urinals and low-flow fittings and fixtures
  • At the Training Centre, a sedum ‘green roof’ has been installed to significant portions of the main building and Player Accommodation Lodge to enable the capture and re-harvesting of rain water across the site
  • A comprehensive drainage and extraction system is in place including through the installation of an attenuation pond and two onsite bore holes that extract water with licences and agreement from the Environment Agency
  • Excess water is diverted back to irrigation tanks for re-use

Plant based/low carbon food

  • Plant based food options are available at the Stadium, training facilities and all club properties where food is served – to see sample menus: https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/the-stadium/attending-matches/food-and-drink/
  • All menus across the matchday food outlets, as well as The M on non-match days, include vegetarian and vegan options
  • Fans are made aware of the plant-based food options on offer on matchdays via social media, the official app and match attenders’ emails
  • At our recent Game Zero initiative, nearly double the amount of fans ordered vegan or vegetarian meals in comparison to the baseline set
  • All food produce, where possible, is locally and sustainably sourced. Working with partners to continue to identify and improve further sustainably-sourced food options to cater for various dietary requirements and plant based food options
  • Waste from our stadium’s microbrewery is used to feed the pigs at Wicks Manor Farm, less than 50 miles away, which in turn is then used in our pork product in the stadium
  • A Kitchen Garden at the Training Centre grows organic fruit and veg served in the players’ restaurant

Biodiversity

  • A detailed Ecological Management Plan is in place at all sites to monitor and manage ecological activity
  • The Club has planted hundreds of new and semi-mature trees and tens of thousands of new plants, hedges and flowers across the site, as well as a Wildflower Meadow, to establish the ecological habitat
  • In our conservation area, we have also created two additional wildlife ponds, 25 bug hotels and multiple bat houses
  • The attenuation pond has also been enhanced to not only fulfil its practical application, but the creation of a natural wetland and intermittent wetland habitat with additional ponds and wildlife
  • Further ecological measures at our Player Accommodation Lodge include:
    • Additional terrestrial habitats created to promote biodiversity
    • Aquatic habitat created for protected species of Great Crested Newts
    • Considerate lighting to reduce light pollution to promote existing bat species proliferation
    • Barn and Farmhouse built to house bats
    • Local well used for maintenance and irrigation of the grounds
    • Green roof designed to propagate local fauna, birds and wildlife
    • Preservation of several trees of high importance
    • Wildlife corridor created – an exclusion zone for guests
    • 75 additional species of plant have been added to the site’s ecology
  • The site is evaluated under Greenspace Information for Greater London, Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside, and the National Biodiversity Network Gateway
  • The Club has been selected by Enfield Council as the highest scoring bidder to regenerate the nearby Whitewebbs Park Golf Course. The proposals will see ecological and landscape enhancements across the whole site, for example through the introduction of wild flower meadow habitat and the re-introduction of beavers to the area
  • Davinson Sanchez joined children from Rowland Hill Nursery School to help plant trees donated by the Club and Sky on a green space nearby Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A mixture of American Sweetgum, False Acacia and Silver Birch are now in place at a site identified by Friends of the Earth and Haringey Council on White Hart Lane
  • The Club is currently working with VCCP on a project that will see us fund an area of the Amazon Rainforest equivalent to the size of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, covering the costs of its reforestation and protection, with fans also invited to purchase a ‘seat’ in the stadium to further support
  • The Club will also facilitate a community tree planting project at its Training Centre, alongside the Mayor of Enfield, inviting all local primary schools to plant a tree on the site

Education

  • The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has been actively promoting participation in Planet Super League within our local schools
  • Through our partnership with Count Us In, the Club’s Junior Members were invited to submit entries to an art competition, drawing or painting the things that they would most like to protect from climate change, with the best entries publicised on social media
  • Working in partnership with Football for Future and Nike, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has been delivering educational workshops to young local people on sustainability
  • Staff education and engagement on positive environmental behaviours ahead of Game Zero
  • Staff are briefed in all pre-match meetings and Sustainability Working Group, representative of all departments, that meets regularly
  • First Team players and Ambassadors received detailed briefings and educational sessions on the Club’s sustainability work ahead of undertaken media commitments, including presentations and tours of Club facilities

Communication and Engagement

Additional information

Information sourced directly from Tottenham Hotspur F.C. staff, website and third party websites
Information updated 22 January, 2022.
To see information from 2019 and 2020, click here