Major League Baseball has recognized recipients of the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants with the 2020 Green Glove Award, which recognizes the MLB Club with the highest diversion rate (amount of waste diverted from landfill for recycling). During the 2020 season, the Mariners' recycling rate was 98%, meaning almost all of the waste generated at T-Mobile Park was recycled, composted or reused. The Giants also achieved a recycling rate of 98%.
The Mariners received their first Green Glove Award in 2017. Since 2010, when MLB began recognizing the teams' sustainability efforts, the team has been the best recycler in the American League every year.
With the support of ABM, the Mariners cleaning service provider in T-Mobile Park, the Mariners were able to achieve the remarkable recycling rate of 98%. In 2020, ABM sorted the waste collected in the stadium in order to remove recyclable materials from the waste stream. Of nearly 2.2 million pounds of waste, 2.14 million pounds was composted, recycled or, in the case of edible food, donated to community nutrition programs.
Mariners' commitment to sustainability goes beyond recycling. Over the years, the team has significantly reduced the consumption of natural gas, electricity and water through conserving and resource-saving devices and building materials.
In 2014, the Mariners became the first MLB team to illuminate the field with LED lights. The LED lights consume 60% less electricity and at the same time produce brighter light. The Mariners are currently in the process of replacing all lights inside and outside the T-Mobile Park with LEDs. The energy that is only saved by converting the outdoor lighting is enough to supply 400 households with electricity.
Solar collectors installed on the skybridge, which connect the T-Mobile Park with the Mariners car park, generate 40,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. In addition, solar panels at Mariners Spring Training headquarters in the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona produce enough electricity to meet half of the team's electricity needs each year.
In the future, the Mariners plan to include sustainability in upcoming infrastructure projects. In the next 10 years alone, the Mariners will spend $ 280 million on improvements and upgrades to the ballpark. Working with a consultant, the Mariners will incorporate sustainability into every part of the projects from planning to construction to operation to ensure that T-Mobile Park remains a top-notch facility in every way.