Closing the loop: Building a more circular future across UEFA club competition finals
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Article summary
As the 2025/26 club competition season draws to a close, our sustainability work to ensure a positive legacy continues long after the final whistle.
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Across this season’s four club finals, we not only delivered world-class football matches, but also strengthened our circular economy practices, reducing waste and focusing on how materials were sourced, used, recovered and reintroduced into the wider football ecosystem.
That reflects a broader ambition within the UEFA sustainability strategy: moving from isolated initiatives towards measurable, scalable systems that can support football’s long-term environmental transition.
Giving UEFA finals materials a second life
One of the clearest examples of this approach is the reuse of event branding materials across our finals. Instead of disposing of stadium dressing and signage, we are increasingly finding ways to give more value to those resources by entering them into circular life cycles and this season, more than 25 tonnes of signage and other branded items were recycled.
Across our events, we are collecting, sorting, recycling and upcycling branding material into training equipment that will be distributed through grassroots activities across Europe next season.
This means material from elite competitions continues to create value at community level, linking major events to participation and development in amateur football. This is just one example of our circular approach. More supply chain-related models will follow next season as the result of our work with UEFA circular economy partner, PreZero.
This matters because circular economy is not only about recycling, it also means reducing waste and extending the useful life of products and materials. Our circular economy guidelines are built around the 4R model – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover – and encourage national associations, clubs and venues to rethink everything from food and beverage systems to kit, equipment and event materials. The finals provide a high-profile opportunity to test and refine those principles for wider use.
On the pitch with our sustainability partners
Progress towards zero waste events
A central objective of our work in this area is the delivery of zero waste to landfill events, achieved at all final venues this season, representing a significant operational step forward.
Through questioning material choice, product lifespan, logistics and recovery routes, we have been able to manage resources more intelligently than in previous years, improving sorting systems, creating stronger recovery processes, and collaborating more with stadium operators, suppliers and service providers.
Looking ahead: PreZero’s role in scaling our circular solutions
PreZero plays a key role in advancing UEFA’s circular economy ambitions through our broader strategic partnership with the companies of the Schwarz Group. By supporting both event delivery and day-to-day operations, PreZero helps drive a more systematic and value-focused approach to resource management.
Working alongside UEFA, PreZero analyses and optimises waste streams to unlock greater value, improve recycling and recovery rates, and identify more sustainable choices across supply chains and material selection. This collaboration enables us to move far beyond waste management towards a more integrated circular model.
Through detailed post-event analysis, we gain deeper insights into where waste is generated, which materials are hardest to recover, and where smarter procurement, design or operational decisions can significantly reduce environmental impact in the future.
Looking ahead, our sustainability approach will place even greater emphasis on consistency, data-driven decision-making and scalability. By demonstrating that resource preservation and top-level football can go hand in hand, this partnership aims to combine environmental responsibility with economic efficiency.
PreZero not only supports UEFA in implementing its strategic sustainability ambitions and transforming its own operations, but also contributes to developing a scalable blueprint for European football.
Together, we aim to shape expectations and practices across the wider football ecosystem - from stadium operations and supplier networks to clubs, associations and grassroots programmes. The ambition is clear: from waste to value – building a more resilient, resource-efficient and future-ready events model for the game as a whole.