MUMBAI: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be promoting ‘green cricket’ by implementing the 3R concept (reduce, reuse, recycle) at stadiums across the country, Times of India reports.
The two organizations plan to conceptualize a three-year framework to be implemented in cricket matches of all formats.
A tripartite agreement has already been signed between the Union environment ministry, UNEP and BCCI to usher in the process, Atul Bagai, head of UN Environment Country Office in India told TOI.
“Cricket in India is a religion and IPL, which is viewed widely across the world, can help in spreading awareness about environment and minimizing waste generation during matches,” Bagai said.
“UNEP’s approach is to make sports green and in India we are starting with IPL because it is very popular and will be an effective tool to sensitize people. We will help them conduct waste audits and plan environment friendly matches.”
“We have discussed the issue of waste generation with BCCI and they were forthcoming. They have decided to take environmental conservation as an important initiative of IPL,” he added.
“MPCA and Indore administration wants to go few steps ahead and want to all the 4 matches to be zero waste. All the waste generated after the matches will be segregated to further reuse it and dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner.”
On an average, about 3-4.5 tons of waste is generated during matches in the form of plastic bottles, disposables, caps, posters and placards. The IPL matches this year at Bangalore and Kolkata were zero-waste matches.
Earlier this month, the authorities at The Oval cricket ground in London pledged to make it plastic-free in 3 years. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also come on board in UNEP’s campaign and have constituted a blueprint to minimize plastic usage by the time the Tokyo Olympics begins in 2020.
“These initiatives at the global levels are very noteworthy and sports community are realizing their role in spreading the environmental friendly messages,” Bagai told the daily.
