Pirates participate in White House forum on sports and sustainability

Pittsburgh Pirates Chairman of the Board, Bob Nutting, participated in a “Sports and Sustainability forum held by the White House earlier today. At the event the Pirates were recognized as a sports industry innovator for adopting sustainable business practices.

Today, Nutting participated in the first of three panel discussions which focused on the economic and environmental benefits of greening the sports industry and featured senior Administration officials.

"It was an honor to be asked to participate in this discussion and to be recognized by the White House for our leadership in this area. It is important that we at the Pirates, as well as Major League Baseball, utilize our unique public position to continue to raise awareness on sustainability," said Nutting. “We can all make a difference in protecting our environment. The city of Pittsburgh and the Laurel Highlands region is surrounded by natural beauty. We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to live in, and help protect, this area for future generations.”

The Pirates were asked to participate to recognize the significant progress that has been made in the club’s greening initiatives program titled “Let’s Go Bucs. Let’s Go Green.” since its launch in 2008. The program, which focuses on recycling, conservation and awareness, has successfully diverted more than 67-percent of the PNC Park waste materials out of the waste stream thus far in 2012, up from 27-percent in the program’s first year.

In 2011, the Pirates diverted more than 61-percent, which includes approximately 78.4 tons of glass, 18 tons of aluminum cans, 24.7 tons of plastic, 12.4 tons of paper, 154.7 tons of cardboard, 24 tons of used cooking oil, 59 tons of yard waste and 97 tons of other recyclable materials.

The dedicated effort by the Pirates and their PNC Park partners, ARAMARK and Levy Restaurants, includes:

Recycling – The robust recycling program that captures the more than 1.2 million plastic bottles and cups discarded by fans throughout the season.

Concessionaire Initiatives – Both of PNC Park’s concessionaires, ARAMARK and Levy Restaurants, use recyclable plastic beverage cups and have eliminated most of the non-biodegradable materials in the utensils, plates, napkins and food carriers. In addition, the Pirates support Rock and Wrap it Up! Inc. by recovering prepared untouched food from PNC Park. Rather than being thrown away, this food is donated to the Greater Community Food Bank for distribution to the community. From April through September 2011, 6,244 pounds of food was recovered in conjunction with games at PNC Park.

Energy – The Pirates took steps to make the ballpark more energy efficient by:
• Participating in Energy Star Portfolio Manager to help monitor and reduce consumption.
• Installing an HVAC system on an economizer cycle which allows the use of outdoor air to
condition interior areas when the air temperature is appropriate.
• All major fan units and comfort cooling pumps are on Variable Frequency Drives.
• The use of a Building Management System, which allows for the startup and shut down of
the HVAC system by use of a timer.
• Domestic hot water has been re-piped to run on time-of-day schedule to save on both
electric and consumption of water.
• Changed lighting in areas throughout the ballpark from incandescent light bulbs to
compact fluorescent light bulbs, reducing the average wattage used from 100 to 25 watts.
• Installed motion sensors in all mechanical rooms, restrooms, and some common areas in
the ballpark.

Composting – The Pirates were one of the first Major League Baseball teams to have incorporated a composting program, which is the recycling and reusing of organic materials to enhance soils and foster growth of plants. This program allows for the collection of organic material, which helps in slowing down the production of methane, a greenhouse gas that is generated when food and organic material decompose in the landfill. Since the program began in 2009, more than 965 tons of food waste has been composted at PNC Park through these efforts.

Paper Usage – All paper used in the ballpark and in the Pirates front office is more environmentally friendly. The toilet paper is made from 100-percent recycled materials and restroom hand towels are made from 45-percent recycled materials. All of the team’s office paper, including copy paper, team stationary and business cards are made from 30-percent post-consumer paper.

Printing – The Pirates print the club’s various publications in soy-based ink on FSC certified paper,including the club’s game day publication Pirates Insider, annual Community Report and PNC Park’s A to Z Guide.

Cleaning Products – The Pirates use Environmental Protection Agency recommended Designed for Environment (DFE) cleaning products to clean the ballpark.

Awareness Campaign – The Pirates continue to promote the importance of greening initiatives through a number of channels, including in-ballpark signage, public service announcements from Pirates players and the renovation of Pittsburgh’s Sanguigni Field using green practices and environmentally friendly materials. The organization also utilizes the club’s official website, Pirates.com,