The VTB United League is partnering with SIBUR and the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on a new environmental initiative to recycle plastic bottles. During May and June 2017, each Russian team in the VTB United League playoffs will commit to recycling all plastic bottles used by the team and staff during practices and game and we encourage fans to join in the project:
Each VTB United League arena in Russia will have special baskets for fans to play #БАСКЕТБОТЛ.
The rules of the game are simple:
- Crush the bottle
- Throw it in the basket or go get the rebound if you miss!
- Take a video of your shot and post on social media with #БАСКЕТБОТЛ and geotag.
The fan with the most creative shot (or series of shots) will win a prize.
Anyone can participate in #БАСКЕТБОТЛ. You don’t have to go to a game. Just use any recycling basket intended for plastic bottles and start sharing your videos.
Typically, VTB United League teams have 15 players at practice and use at least 30 plastic bottles, 40, if you count the coaches. Teams practice twice a day, so that’s 80 bottles. Each VTB United League team has a youth squad, so that’s 160 bottles in a day of practice. Given one off day a week (though not every week), the average VTB United League club goes through around 1,000 plastic bottles a week!
Each VTB United League game draws several thousand fans. That’s a lot of thirsty fans, especially during the playoffs, and the majority use a plastic bottle to stay hydrated. Each game can easily contribute 2-3,000 empty bottles.
Those bottles could be used to make:
500 t-shirts
215 square meters of road surfacing
Furniture textiles for 10 couches
During the initiative, VTB United League clubs will look into wearing uniforms made from recycled plastic.
