PITTSBURGH (February 28, 2019) – The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) presented two “Zero Waste Achievement Awards” to Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon, Inc. (P3R) in recognition of their commitment to minimizing the amount of solid waste sent to area landfills during their two largest races in 2018.
The 2018 DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events achieved a 94 percent waste diversion rate. Approximately 37,673 pounds of waste was either recycled, reused or composted after the race. This is the fifth year in a row the event has successfully diverted 90 percent or more of its waste from landfills. More than 40,000 runners, 4,000 volunteers and 300,000 spectators were part of the 2018 weekend of events, which took place from May 4-6.
For the third year in a row, the EQT Pittsburgh 10 Miler diverted more than 90 percent of its waste from the landfill. The 2018 event successfully reduced the event’s landfill waste by 1,500 pounds, with over 1,000 pounds being recycled. More than 4,000 runners participated in the Pittsburgh’s favorite fall road race in 2018, which took place on Nov. 4.
“P3R is committed to producing environmentally conscious events and making sure the city looks just as beautiful — or even more beautiful — after our races as it did before,” said P3R CEO Patrice Matamoros. “With the size of our events, this is a challenge, but one that P3R is tackling with a comprehensive approach to ‘greening’ the race and promoting sustainability.”
Since 2011, P3R staff has worked with the PRC to create a comprehensive Zero Waste Program during their year-long calendar of races. Together, they’ve created a system that runs from the start line through the finish line festival to collect and sort as much material as possible that is reusable, compostable or recyclable.
P3R would not be able to achieve its sustainability goals without the support of community partners including Peoples Natural Gas. Like P3R, Peoples is a passionate advocate for sustainability practices and is the Official Partner of the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon Greening and Sustainability Initiatives.
“We’re proud to participate as the Greening and Sustainability partner of the Pittsburgh Marathon to not only shine another spotlight on Pittsburgh but also on the city’s ethic of sustainability,” said Morgan O’Brien, President & CEO of Peoples. “At Peoples, we support both community and operational initiatives to benefit our environment by monitoring our pipelines for methane emissions to prioritize our pipeline replacement investments to benefit our environment, for example. We are committed to these environmental practices to make lives better in all the communities we serve.”