Sustainability at Super Bowl LX: How the NFL is Going Green

For sports fans around the world, the Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated events of the year.

Widely known for its half-time show, the event is broadcast to more than 120 million people worldwide.

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the NFL, marking the conclusion of the American Football season.

Sunday, 8 February, 2026, marks the 60th Super Bowl, a showdown between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.

As one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar, the Super Bowl presents the opportunity for sustainability to take to the global stage.

PepsiCo’s initiatives at Levi’s Stadium

Super Bowl LX takes place at Levi’s Stadium, which is home to the San Francisco 49ers.

At the start of the season, the 49ers announced a new initiative with PepsiCo to introduce reusable cups at the stadium.

These are PepsiCo’s durable beverage cups, which made their debut at the 49ers’ first preseason game in August 2025.

The programme allows supporters to return their cups to designated bins, where they are collected, sanitised and redistributed for reuse.

This closed-loop system ensures that every cup is cleaned and reused efficiently, providing a scalable blueprint that can be used elsewhere in the NFL or in other stadiums around the world.

During the announcement of the initiative, Burgess Scott Davis, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo North America, said: “Advancing reuse requires collaboration and a systemic shift to help make the reusable option the most convenient and accessible option for consumers to enjoy their beverage.

“Initiatives like this can provide important insights into how that shift can become a reality at scale while having an immediate impact in reducing waste.

“Sustainability is truly a team sport, and we’re grateful to the 49ers for their collaboration on this effort.”

Across the 2025/26 season, this initiative helped prevent more than 32,000 disposable plastic cups from ending up as waste in landfills.

The programme will be extended for Super Bowl LX in select seating areas, providing additional return bins for fans to drop off their used cups.

This is managed by Bold Reuse, a national reuse leader, and Levy, the hospitality provider at Levi’s Stadium.

How sustainable is Super Bowl LX?

In addition to the reusable cup programme, PepsiCo is supporting recycling efforts at Levi’s Stadium. 

At the Super Bowl, it will be deploying Oscar Sort units, which are interactive AI-powered recycling systems that can help consumers to place items in the correct bins.

It will also be providing 200 additional collapsible, reusable recycling bins across the stadium and other event spaces, as well as having sustainability staff on hand to assist fans.

The NFL aims to give reusable materials a second life after Super Bowl LX, by donating materials and food.

More than 30 local organisations, including food banks and schools, will repurpose items from the Super Bowl.

Last year, the donations made after the Super Bowl totalled more than US$800,000 in food and materials, with donations expected to match or exceed that total this year.

Beyond the Super Bowl itself, the NFL aims to leave a “green legacy” in the Bay Area around the stadium.

The donations after the event are being prioritised to community organisations that are local and can provide a large communal benefit, as well as piloting new waste sorting protocols that can be used at future events.

The issues of packaging and waste continue to pose a threat, with challenges that cannot be overcome by a single company or initiative.

The efforts shown by the NFL, PepsiCo and the team at Levi’s Stadium provide insights into how collaboration and fan engagement can drive progress and scale sustainable solutions.

With all eyes on the Super Bowl on Sunday, sustainability will be noticed by millions of people around the world, as successful leadership and collaboration is highlighted.

All sustainability, net zero and sustainable supply chain leaders should attend:

• Sustainability LIVE: The Net Zero Summit - QEII Centre, London, March 4-5
• Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit - Navy Pier, Chicago, April 21-22

Co-located with Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, these events brings together CSOs, ESG leaders and senior decision-makers at a moment when sustainability, supply chains and commercial performance are increasingly interconnected.

Tickets can be booked online today for The Net Zero Summit and The US Summit. Group discounts available.