West Bromwich Albion are proud to announce they have been awarded EFL Green Club Silver status.
EFL Green Clubs is a League-wide voluntary scheme, delivered in partnership with GreenCode, that supports EFL Clubs to improve their environmental practices and operations.
It first launched in 2021 and was updated for the 2024/25 season to introduce a new assessment cycle that awards participating clubs with a status of “Participant”, “Bronze”, “Silver” or “Gold”.
The refreshed scheme presents a more rigorous assessment process that requires participating clubs to exceed standard sustainability measures, meaning all levels of the award represent a concentrated effort to implement environmentally sustainable practices at the club.
EFL Environmental Sustainability Co-ordinator, Ben Fisher said: “Everyone at the EFL is delighted to celebrate West Bromwich Albion’s commitment to environmental sustainability and it is brilliant to have GreenCode on board to help us support the club at each stage of the assessment cycle.
“The club has worked hard to reduce their carbon footprint and make a positive impact on their local environment, and thoroughly deserve to be recognised for their efforts.
“EFL Green Clubs is one of several ways in which the EFL supports clubs to improve their sustainability practices. Throughout the season, we also deliver a full training and support package that enables us to share best practice across the League and to collectively tackle shared challenges in this area.”
Albion’s Head of Health, Safety & Sustainability added: “I’m really pleased with the work we have done as a football club and through our working group ‘Baggies Pastures Green’ to achieve silver status.
“Our first ‘One Big Thing’ initiative was to reduce the purchasing of single use plastic water bottles for consumption because the statistics were mind-blowing.
“We were using 5,000 cases of bottled water - which is 120,000 bottles per year - and that does not account for other types of sports drinks. And the waste disposal resulted in 508 kilos per year to landfill, so we incurred ‘overweight’ costs due to the extra weight caused by hundreds of partly full water bottles.
“Now, all first team & academy players - and staff - have branded personal water bottles. Partnering with Pure-ionic Water, we have seven water fountains dispensing ionic water at the training ground.
“We have the health benefits of the ionic water, too, protecting against particle contaminants found in water such as micro-plastics, viruses, bacteria and more. Plus, single-use plastics have been removed from hospitality areas.
“Also, we no longer have single-use plastic carrier bags in our club shop - instead offering a reusable cotton tote bag. Plastic gift cards have been replaced with a cardboard alternative which are compostable and recyclable, our mailing bags for online orders are made from 100% recycled materials, and we have a range of unisex clothing made from re-generated cotton - alongside working to extend this to more products. Replica shirts are also made from 100% recycled polyesters which is ethically sourced, fully traceable, and responsibly produced.
“We have been ‘zero to landfill’ for three years. And with regards to bio-diversity, our ground staff researched bio-diversity friendly seeds, identifying and implementing several re-wilding areas at both the training ground and stadium.
“Our facility maintenance staff have manufactured ‘Bat Boxes’ and ‘Bug Hotels’, using suitable recycled waste materials. Both stadium and facility staff researched and placed the items in their relevant environments and monitor them long-term for suitability and success.
“Finally, in the autumn, we undertook an extensive tree planting exercise at the training ground. More than 150 trees of varied species were planted in identified areas and 8 Hawthorn trees at the stadium. We still have plenty to come, but it’s certainly been a really encouraging start.”
EFL Green Clubs currently has 36 EFL Clubs signed up to the scheme, which is delivered in partnership with GreenCode, the environmental accreditation organisation run by the Green Britain Group.
The assessment cycle takes place across two seasons with a development season during which clubs identify key priority areas and begin to implement environmental sustainability measures and protocols, such as a published environmental policy and a baseline carbon footprint.