State Farm Arena Has Diverted More Than 13 Million Pounds of Waste from Landfills in the Past Five Years

ATLANTA – On Earth Day, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena today announced that they have diverted more than 13 million pounds of waste from landfills since the start of their zero-waste journey. Included in the diversion, the award-winning downtown Atlanta venue recycled nearly five million pounds of aluminum, plastic, glass and cardboard, composted over three million pounds of food and organic material and repurposed more than three million pounds of electronics, clothing and other items.

Since May 2021, the venue has consistently diverted a minimum of 90 percent of waste from landfills and in April 2022, the venue became the first sports and live entertainment venue in the world to receive TRUE Platinum certification for zero waste.

“We continue to lead the sports and entertainment industry in sustainability,” said Amanda Mann, Chief Facilities Officer for the Hawks and State Farm Arena. "We were the first sports and live entertainment venue in the world to receive TRUE Platinum certification for zero waste, and every day, we are continuing to prioritize our community by putting in the work to lessen our environmental footprint.”

Since the start of State Farm Arena’s zero waste journey, the venue has consistently diverted a minimum of 90 percent of waste from landfills and have accomplished the following:

• Recycled over 5 million pounds (5,063,401) of materials. This primarily included aluminum, plastics, cardboard, glass and more. 
• Composted nearly 4 million (3,957,881) pounds of food and organic material. Any food that could not be donated was composted. Composting is the natural process of turning organic matter, such as food and compostable service ware, into a valuable fertilizer used by local farmers.
• Reused or donated more than 3 million pounds (3,345,651) of materials like food, electronics, clothing, crates, pallets and more
• Reduced waste by 697,775 pounds by eliminating paper tickets, individual condiment packets, disposable service ware and more.

“We are grateful for our industry-leading sustainability partnerships that have allowed us to significantly enhance our venue’s efforts in this space,” said Andrew Saltzman, President of Business Enterprise and Chief Commercial Officer for the Hawks and State Farm Arena. “We are incredibly thankful to everyone who makes our sustainability goals a priority. That includes our fans, our concertgoers, our partners and our team members.”

The Hawks and State Farm Arena have built a robust network of sustainability partnerships that have significantly enhanced their environmental efforts. As part of these efforts, the organizations have teamed up with Novelis as the team’s official aluminum recycling partner and sustainability partner who provides guidance and operational knowledge to organize, sort and recycle aluminum and other materials. The Hawks have also teamed with Kimberly-Clark Professional to implement Onvation smart restroom technology to track product usage and help reduce product waste. The Hawks and Smurfit Westrock, the official entitlement partner of the Resource Recovery Room (R3), have worked together to reduce waste, preserve biodiversity and support the well-being of local Atlanta communities. Honeywell became the official sustainable building technology partner in 2024 and has assisted in upgrading the arena with Forge software and sensors to improve energy efficiency, air quality and sustainability. Additionally, in partnership with Georgia Natural Gas® and their Greener Life for Business® program, the arena offsets 100% of the carbon emissions from its natural gas usage. 

At the end of last year, State Farm Arena officially ranked fifth domestically and seventh worldwide in the list of the Top Venues (with 15,001 or more capacity excluding stadiums) according to Billboard’s The Year In Touring 2025 Report. This ranking also marked the third year in a row that the venue was ranked in the Top 10 globally. Billboard, the world’s premier music publication which has served the entertainment business since 1894, published their annual year-end rankings earlier this month.

To learn more about how the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena are leading the way in sustainability efforts across the sports and entertainment industry, visit StateFarmArena.com/sustainability.