Anheuser-Busch, Keep America Beautiful Partner with Sports Leagues & Fans to Eliminate Game-Day Waste

Overview

Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest brewer.

Anheuser-Busch’s goals for partnering with Keep America Beautiful (KAB) are twofold:

• To reduce game-day waste of its products at stadiums by uniting its sports team partners with volunteers from KAB’s national affiliate network.
• To foster a stronger connection with consumers by leading a conversation about recycling, an issue that both Anheuser-Busch and sports fans care about.

Backstory

Anheuser-Busch is a founding partner of Keep America Beautiful and has supported the organization's efforts for more than 65 years.

“There have been some major developments in the partnership over the past several years,” said Eddie Moye, Director, Community Impact, Anheuser-Busch. “Anheuser-Busch realized there was more we could be doing with KAB, both in terms of accomplishing our goals and in promoting our work together.”

In hindsight, Eddie said that the KAB partnership was underutilized. Not anymore.

“Today, KAB has gone from being one of our many long-standing community grantees to a vital partner helping us achieve our sustainability goals.”

Strategic Approach

In 2022, Anheuser-Busch united its sports team partners - including Major League Baseball and the National Football League - to launch the National Recycling League (NRL).

The goal of the NRL is to reduce beer packaging waste on game days.

“We couldn’t have launched this initiative without the support of Keep America Beautiful,” Eddie said. “Having KAB as our partner allows us to execute our program comprehensively and at scale. They provide volunteers for clean-ups at stadiums who help collect empty cups, cans, and bottles and ensure they’re recycled. Volunteers also share recycling tips with fans.”

While beer hawkers at stadiums sell and distribute beer, KAB volunteers are “recycling hawkers” that collect cups, cans, and bottles from fans.

“They make sure that things that would otherwise end up in the trash are properly sorted and recycled,” Eddie said.

Anheuser-Busch and KAB aim to expand their recycling efforts beyond sports leagues and stadiums.

“We’re planning to build on the initial success of the NRL by bringing the program to new and different formats, from golf greens to beaches to anywhere that people gather and play or enjoy watching sports,” Eddie said.

“When Anheuser-Busch employees volunteer as ‘recycling hawkers,’ they can speak directly to consumers. So much of our market research is in retail settings where the focus is on selling products. But with our KAB partnership and NRL stadium events, we can have positive conversations with consumers about making an impact in their communities through recycling. Those conversations only happen because of our partnership with Keep America Beautiful.

-Eddie Moye, Anheuser-Busch

Results

The National Recycling League has engaged 25+ teams across the MLB, NBA, MLS, and NFL.

“In just the first two months of 2022, we diverted over 300 tons of recyclables from landfills,” Eddie said. “That’s 550,000 pounds of cans, bottles, and cups primed for recirculation.”

• The program achieved a 15 percent increase in recycling across participating MLB stadiums.
• Across the program in 2022, 14 volunteer events were held, each collecting over 300 pounds of recyclables. That’s over two tons of empty cans and bottles.
• Anheuser-Busch garnered 108 media placements, earned over 75 million impressions, and garnered a 100 percent favorable sentiment from fans.

“A major benefit of the partnership is we connect with our consumers uniquely, impactfully,” Eddie said. “We get to talk to them about recycling our products when they are having fun and enjoying a game.”

Partner Insights

Anheuser-Busch shared this advice for companies considering a nonprofit partnership.

• Choose a partner that can scale. “When we launched the National Recycling League, we weren’t planning to work with one or two stadiums; we wanted to partner with dozens,” Eddie said. “We needed a partner like Keep America Beautiful that matched our ambitions and had the resources and volunteers in multiple markets.”
• Choose a partner you’d be proud to introduce your executive team to. “The quality of KAB’s events is second to none and they are events that you can insert any level executive into,” Eddie said. “Getting C-suite support for an initiative is critical for its success, and you need a partner like KAB that understands executive engagement and education.”
• Choose a partner that works with companies like yours. “If you’re the biggest partner for a nonprofit, you’ll be driving the entire mission,” Eddie warned. “Choose a partner that works with other organizations like yours so you can work together to accomplish the mission. I like that KAB works with other businesses of the same size and scale as Anheuser-Busch. Big goals require big partners.”

“KAB is also helping us make the program easier to implement, developing a toolkit for community sports centers, baseball fields, parks, etc. that will serve as a playbook for reducing litter and recycling.”

-Eddie Moye, Anheuser-Busch