The Nordea Masters and host venue PGA of Sweden National are showing that they are early adopters of The European Tour Green Drive's main objectives to achieve sustainably run events and host venues.
The €1.5 million tournament achieved Keep Sweden Tidy's Miljomarkt Event award for the second year, and the host venue, in the southern city of Malmö, is working towards GEO Certified® status.
The Miljomarkt Event label recognises public events which actively reduce their environmental impact. As Sweden’s largest annual sporting event, with 100,000 spectators expected over four days, organisers are committed to minimising negative impacts and maximising the benefits which the event can bring to its host community and environment.
The Nordea Masters was first awarded the Miljomarkt Event label in 2014. In order to regain the award for 2015 organisers had to show an improvement on last years sustainability performance, which they did with a substantial 20% increase over their 2014 score.
The award score is based on the event’s sustainability performance across eight categories: Planning and Communication; Goods and Services; Food and Drink; Waste and Littering; Energy and Climate; Transport; Water; and Special Initiatives.
Some of the many sustainability highlights of the 2015 Nordea Masters 2015 recognised by this award include:
• A focus on sustainable and locally sourced food and drinks, including 90% off food served at the event being locally;
• The donation of SEK 10 deposit scheme on plastic bottles, along with other fundraising activities at the event, to Make a Difference for Cancer research at Medicon Village and University of Lund;
• A partnership with BMW for plastic bottles from the event to be used in the production of their i3 and i8 cars, in which up to 20% of the carbon fibre structure comes from recycled bottles;
• Free shuttle buses from local train station for spectators and from hotels for players and caddies to reduce private car use and free bike parking at the venue encouraging spectators to cycle to the event;
• A range of communications on site to tell spectators about the sustainability programme at the event and how they can do their part when they’re there.
The event’s venue, The PGA of Sweden National, is itself taking a lead in the sustainable year-round management of the golf facility. The club is actively working with a view to achieving GEO Certified®, golf’s global eco-label, in the very near future.
