Transition to Greenware, Increased Recycling Efforts Are Proactive Steps to Become More Environmentally Sensitive

In an effort to be an environmentally responsible corporate citizen, Lexington Center announced today at its monthly board meeting that Lexington Center Concessions is transitioning from using non-recyclable PET (petroleum oil-based) container products to compostable PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) “greenware” products made from renewable resources.

Cocktail and beer cups as well as most soft drink glasses (16 oz and 24 oz) made from PLA, a compostable resin derived from natural starches such as corn, rice, or potatoes will be provided at all Rupp Arena and Lexington Center events through the in-house concessions department. Other product containers serving hot food and liquid such as coffee cups, paper plates, and plastic utensils are made from bagasse, derived from sugar cane pulp.

Aside from the benefit of using a compostable product that will not leave toxic chemicals in a landfill, the switch to PLA products also makes environmental sense because:

• PLA will react in landfills like other organic waste such as food.
• PLA products generate 69% fewer greenhouse gases than fossil-fuel based plastics.
• The manufacturer of the resin purchases renewable energy (wind and solar power) to power their plant, thus reducing greenhouse emissions.
• Manufacturing petroleum-based plastics uses approximately 200,000 barrels of oil per day. Using PLA products means being less dependent on foreign oil.
• PLA requires lower water usage than some of the petrochemical polymers.

According to Bill Owen, Lexington Center CEO and President “These choices, while obviously the right thing to do, come with the challenge of balancing economic realities against environmental imperatives, which often are at odds. Sometimes the environmental response is more costly. We are in a transitional time of demand for environmental sensitivity and we believe the marketplace will make that response best from an economic aspect as well.”

In 2005, Lexington Center committed to an extensive, company-wide recycling program that has resulted in the annual recycling of over 25 tons of cardboard alone. Recycling bins in all employee offices, convention center meetings, and trade shows and exhibitions, Rupp Arena concerts and family shows are filled and collected. A virtual forest of blue “Rosies” are serviced regularly and trucked to the LFUCG Recycling Center.

The transition to greenware and the expansion of the recycling program were both initiatives instigated by the Rupp Arena Management Team, explained Owen. “The combined initiatives of Director of Arena Management, Carl Hall and Event Manager Theresa Holmes, Facility Services Manager Tony Clevenger and his staff, and the general interest and commitment of all of Lexington Center employees to get behind this effort illuminate the leadership role that Lexington Center wants to play as an environmentally sensitive, proactive, corporate citizen.”