As one of the preeminent sports arenas in Ohio, the team behind Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, is committed to being a responsible and sustainable partner to the Columbus community. Part of this commitment includes reducing the arena’s reliance on the landfill and finding ways to make it easier for event attendees to recycle their waste.

And yet, it doesn’t stop there. 

As the new season of the Columbus Blue Jackets kicks off, Nationwide Arena is making it even easier for other community organizations to join in the mission to keep our community green, donating more than 170 trash and recycling containers to support various local recycling programs. When Nationwide Arena planned to upgrade their onsite recycling containers – from 35 to 55 gallons – to better accommodate larger amounts of recyclables, they made a conscious effort to keep these heavy-duty plastic containers out of the landfill. Putting them back into service to benefit Central Ohio families and residents helped these local organizations save money and help protect the environment. 

“Nationwide Arena prides itself on being an asset to our community. We are thrilled to partner with SWACO on this initiative to provide better recycling opportunities not only at the arena but throughout central Ohio,” said Nationwide Arena spokesperson, Dave Redelberger. 

SWACO applauds the efforts of Nationwide Arena as a fantastic environmental steward, and congratulates the following organizations who received donated recycling containers:

• City of Columbus
• City of New Albany
• City of Obetz 
• City of Upper Arlington
• King Arts Complex 

While plans for how the containers will be distributed within each of these organizations are still be formulated, we applaud Nationwide Arena’s efforts to help local communities recycling programs. 

“The City of Columbus plans on using these containers for future recycling efforts in our goal to reduce 95% of recyclable waste from going to the landfill by 2050,” said Aryeh Alex, Sustainability Manager and Keep Columbus Beautiful Executive Director. 

“The City of Obetz wanted to institute a recycling program at Fortress Obetz, since about 90% of the trash generated through the Sports and Entertainment events here is recyclable,” said Steve Adams, National Director of Athletic Operations and Facilities Promotion at Fortress Obetz. “The opportunity to have the receptacles donated through Nationwide Arena and SWACO helped move up the timeline for 2023.” 

To learn more and get help with recycling at your place of business, email SWACO at [email protected].