UEFA champions circularity in football operations
Monday, September 29, 2025
Article summary
The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, observed annually on 29 September, is a United Nations initiative aiming to mobilise global efforts to halve food waste and reduce food losses across the supply chain by 2030.
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UEFA’s commitment – update of the Circular Economy Guidelines
We are proud to support this International Day through our updated Circular Economy Guidelines, a cornerstone of the UEFA Football Sustainability Strategy 2030. These guidelines mark a strategic shift towards a 4R framework: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover.
Focus Areas:
- Food & beverage: Minimising food waste and promoting sustainable catering
- Apparel & equipment: Extending product life cycles and reducing material waste
- Event materials: Circular procurement and reuse of signage, furniture and ICT
- Energy & water: Efficiency and transition to renewable sources
From guidelines to implementation
Our eight-step roadmap provides a structured approach for football stakeholders to embed circularity into their operations:
- Identify focal points
- Analyse context
- Define mission
- Set key performance indicators
- Prioritise solutions
- Create action plans
- Monitor progress
- Report achievements
Checklist support
This framework is supported by two bespoke Circular Economy Checklists, one for organisation and one dedicated to events enabling amateur and professional clubs, leagues, and event organisers to assess and improve circularity across all operational domains.
UEFA best practice in action
We piloted circular food and beverage strategies at flagship events, including select club competition finals since 2023, EURO 2024 and Women’s EURO 2025.
In collaboration with partners such as PepsiCo, Just Eat Takeaway.com, and Heineken, as well as our catering suppliers and civil society partners, we implemented:
- Zero-waste catering models, through adoption of best practices as described in UEFA’s Healthy And Sustainable Catering Guidelines
- Food redistribution initiatives, ensuring excess food produced for the events are consumed rather than wasted. For instance, 40 tonnes of food surplus were redistributed during UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany
- Plastic reduction campaigns, namely through reuse of food and beverage containers and the use of biodegradable solutions
- Fan engagement, raising awareness through waste separation actions
These efforts demonstrate our commitment to operational excellence and environmental stewardship.
UEFA's call to action
Now, we invite all football stakeholders – national associations, clubs, sponsors and fans – to take meaningful action:
- Conduct food waste audits using the UEFA Circular Economy Checklists (organisation and events)
- Host zero-waste matchdays and sustainability workshops
- Share initiatives on the EU Food Loss and Waste Prevention Hub
- Engage communities in food redistribution and awareness campaigns
Together, we can make football a catalyst for change.
