Brighton & Hove Albion

Environmental Sustainability

American Express Stadium with poppy field

Brighton & Hove Albion are committed to making a difference with our own initiatives both now and in the future. We are proud to have signed up to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) Sports for Climate Action Framework which commits us to halving our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2040.

MyAlbion MyPlanet sets out the club’s strategy to reduce the environmental impacts from the club’s facilities, operations and supply chain, as well as using our position in football to promote environmental responsibility and support our staff, fans and communities to live healthier more sustainable lives.

Read more below about some of the steps we have taken already to minimise our environmental impacts.

If you'd like to be part of our journey, please click here for our current vacancies.

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Energy & Water

We're committed to reducing the energy & water the club uses to keep our buildings running. We have implemented a number of projects at the Training Ground and the Stadium to reduce our energy & water consumption.

Stadium and training ground built are built to BREEAM ‘good’ and ‘very good’ respectively
Over 400 solar PV panels installed at the training ground
Purchased electricity is 100% renewable backed by REGO certificates
Ongoing upgrade of lighting to LED
Timeclocks and PIR sensors ensure lighting switches off when not in use
Monitoring of energy consumption enables identification of energy reduction measures
Building Management System allows heating, cooling and ventilation to be set based on the buildings use
Efficient percussion showerheads and taps are used across both sites to reduce water wastage
Surface water at the training ground is reused via the pitch irrigation system
Waterless urinals are installed in the toilets on public concourses
Water audits carried out by Southern Water to identify and implement water-saving measures

Travel & Transport

Our club’s location on the south coast and the Stadium being located outside the town centre makes it more difficult to travel to than some other stadiums. Through our free travel scheme, we support both home and away fans to travel to the stadium via low-carbon transport such as public transport, cycling, and walking.

85% of our fans travel to home games via sustainable transport options
The first and only club to subsidise free public transport to its stadium for home and away fans within the club’s travel zone
The club offer free park and ride services on matchdays alongside coach travel options
Coach travel to WSL games nearby is provided free of charge
We monitor the percentage of fans taking different modes of transport and report this annually
Ground staff use electric mowers to maintain pitches and electric buggies at the stadium
Installed EV charging points at the stadium and training ground

Waste

The club’s activities generate a significant amount of waste. We have taken steps to improve recycling rates and there are recycling bins in all public concourses and staff offices. We want to eliminate single-use plastics from our operations and have already made big steps towards this.

Implemented 100% digital ticketing for home games and are the first club to launch away tickets on mobiles
Reduced physical season ticket cards from 24,000 to 1,200
All physical fan communications are also 100 per cent recyclable
Fan membership pack is made from completely biodegradable materials and recyclable packaging
Introduced separate cardboard and paper recycling to improve segregation
Schemes for recycling batteries, lamps, copy toner and IT equipment are in place with money raised going to the Brighton and Hove Albion Foundation
Green waste is disposed of at the Brighton Composting Centre to be recycled into compost
Recycling bins provided in all public areas and offices
We have upgraded toilet paper dispensers with models that reduce the amount of paper used
We recycle all old club match and training kits via overseas charities
At the training ground only biodegradable cutlery, cups and take away containers are used

Supply Chain

Carbon emissions from purchased goods and services are a big part of our overall impact and we starting to measure this. We are committed to calculating our emissions from the goods and services we buy and working with suppliers to reduce the carbon emissions from our supply chain.

Vegan and vegetarian options are available in all catering areas with over 30% of food offered on match days being vegan or vegetarian
Working with Quorn to create dishes designed to be 100% carbon neutral
Use local food suppliers, with fish coming from a supplier in Shoreham, meat from Bexhill and our fruit and vegetable supplier in Brighton less than four miles from the Stadium
Purchase bottled water from Life Water which provides 100% recyclable plastic bottles and delivers 1,000 litres of clean drinking water to a community in need for each bottle we purchase
Cleaning teams have started to use eco-friendly products and use refillable spray bottles
Our home and away Nike kits contain recycled polyester
This year’s adult membership packs contained recycled and reuseable products. Members were also given the option to plant five trees in the Albion Fan Forest in Ecuador, instead of receiving their membership pack

Biodiversity

With the American Express Stadium being located on the edge of the South Downs National Park, we recognise the importance of our green spaces to local biodiversity. We are continually looking at ways to encourage biodiversity on our own sites but also more widely.

1000 trees and bushes planted at the American Express Elite Performance Centre
Carried out ecological assessments through an appointed ecologist to comply with the biodiversity criteria in the BREEAM building standard when building the extension at the American Express Elite Performance Centre
Installed bird nesting boxes on the American Express Stadium roof
Offered members the option to plant five trees in Ecuador instead of receiving the membership pack
Introducing additional planting schemes at the Training Ground each year to improve the landscape and encourage biodiversity

Culture & Community

The clubs is at the heart of the local community. Not only does this include those special moments on the pitch, but also the economic value the club brings to the city and the number of people it has supported through the activities of the Foundation. Brighton and Hove Albion know the importance of the people who make the club what it is and demonstrate this on a daily basis through the club’s Team Brighton Values.

In the past five years, the club’s official charity Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation have supported nearly 80,000 participants through their work in the community
The Foundation delivered ‘Protect the Planet’, a social enterprise project which encourages school children to complete a challenge with an environmental theme at the same time as learning about social action and developing their key skills
Our boys under-12s academy team undertook a beach clean in Lancing as part of the Premier League Christmas truce project
We have run workshops with our academy teams to raise their awareness of climate change and sustainability
As part of the ‘On the ball’ campaign we provide plastic-free sanitary products at both our sites for people attending our venues, staff and players
Staff and players daily food options provide for all dietary needs including vegan/plant-based
We celebrate and value the diversity brought by staff, players, supporters and those we work with in the community through our Equality and Diversity programme