RCA Green Award For Ascot
Ascot Racecourse wins The Racing Foundation Green Award for 2023.
The Showcase & Awards is the Racecourse Association’s annual recognition event, celebrating excellence and innovation across British racecourses.
The RCA’s Green Award champions initiatives that reduce the environmental impact of racecourses. Ascot Racecourse was the proud category winner for their award entry, ‘Ascot Racing To Zero’ (read on to learn more about the winning entry).
The Award Entry Objectives
Welcoming more than 500,000 people to the site for racedays each year as well as many more on non-raceday events, sustainability is a year-round priority at Ascot Racecourse. We have a clear focus on reducing emissions, cutting energy usage, reducing the amount of materials coming onto site and increasing recycling – together with a clear Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) mandate.
The hospitality element of the business is managed by 1711 by Ascot, a joint venture between Ascot Racecourse and Sodexo Live, including on-site catering and fine dining. In 2022, Ascot Racecourse put its waste and recycling contract out to tender. It was won by Grundon Waste Management, experts in total waste management. Ascot also utilises the support from Rockvolt, a sports sustainability consultancy.
Working together with these partners, we set the following targets:
Achieve net zero within the Village Enclosure during Royal Ascot 2023.
To achieve 50% recycling at Royal Ascot by 2023.
Develop an ongoing culture to identify opportunities and solutions to reduce waste and improve recycling.
To promote to racegoers the benefits of sustainable practices.
Increase sustainability education for employees and suppliers.
Provide data to demonstrate sustainability success and help set future goals.
The Award Entry Delivery
• An extensive reduction and mitigation programme began in February 2023. Focus areas included procurement, maintenance, estates, grounds, catering, cleaning, waste, logistics and marketing. A staff working group was put together who met on a regular basis to develop and hone the plan.
• Learning from the delivery of a net zero restaurant in 2022, full forecasts for the Village Enclosure were produced covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Any residual emissions would be offset via a certified carbon offsetting programme.
• Waste education was a major focus – ensuring people understood why segregating waste is so important for successful recycling. Grundon spent time training all teams and relevant managers to implement major changes across the hospitality areas, kitchens and vendor stalls.
• Waste posters were redesigned and a back-of-house sorting table was established. There were no general waste bins in the Village Enclosure, every single item had to go into a specific bin for recycling or composting.
• Sustainability champions were employed to engage racegoers and assist with waste segregation.
• Compostable plates, napkins and cutlery were used meeting European Standards with a dedicated compactor for this waste stream. Reusable cups and glasses were used with any fruit from cups removed into food bins.
• The new segregation methods meant food waste could be properly measured for the first time, resulting in food waste being sent to Anaerobic Digestion facilities for processing into bio-fertiliser and electricity.
• 2.11 tonnes of food were donated to City Harvest, equating to 5,026 meals delivered to the South London region.
• Village Enclosure was powered by batteries and not generators alongside a Smartflower producing PV power to offset grid use.
• All temporary structures were pre-used, including marquees, chairs and tables.
The Award Entry Results
• The Village Enclosure welcomed 20,310 customers and the carbon calculations showed residual emissions of 132 tonnes CO2e, after the full effects of the reduction programme were actioned.
• The residual emissions were offset through certified programmes, which also included carbon removal, and this resulted in the first ever net zero enclosure at a racecourse in Britain.
• The Village Enclosure carbon emissions were 30% less in total when compared to the operational delivery of the Enclosure without the reduction programme initiatives.
• Recycling rose by 55.6% from 135,355 kgs in 2022 to 210,725 kgs in 2023 – equivalent to 167 racehorses.
• Glass recycling up 35.6% from 90,860 kgs to 123,220 kgs.
• Overall waste recycling rate 55% - up from 35% in 2022 - exceeding target set.
• Over 50% of all food on sale in the Village Enclosure was plant based.
• Food waste now segregated (previously sent to Energy from Waste) up from 2,800 kgs to 25,460 kgs – increase of 809%.
• General waste (non-recyclable) down 27.5% from 243,060 kgs to 176,250 kgs and sent to Energy from Waste.
• Road sweeper waste collections introduced for the first time = 12,265 kgs of mixed recycling waste collected.
• Electric vehicles used for bin collections, vehicles 100% powered at Grundon’s own Energy from Waste plant, meaning the electricity to power the vehicles is generated from customer waste.
• The waste programme alone meant 126,560 kgs of CO2 saved, equivalent to planting 641 trees.
• 2,089 MWh of non-fossil fuel power generated at the local EfW plant.
"I’m thrilled to witness the collaborative efforts of Ascot, Sodexo Live, Grundon, and Rockvolt culminate in the well-deserved recognition of the RCA Green Award. This achievement, along with the recent Green Apple Award, underscores our shared commitment at Ascot Racecourse to sustainable development in 2023 and for the coming years. Gratitude to all involved for turning environmental dedication into tangible achievements."
Peter Watts | Rockvolt
Related Links
RCA Showcase & Awards
Green Apple Award For Ascot
Our Work With Ascot
