St. George’s Park is committed to achieving the highest levels of sustainability throughout it's world-leading facilities.
As a result, we have set a number of targets aimed at reducing our environmental impact. The areas that we have focused on to reduce our carbon footprint include:
• Energy & Climate Action
• Waste
• Water
• Biodiversity
Andy Savery, SGP General Manager (interim) and Head of Strategic Programmes, said: “It’s 10 years since St. George’s Park opened in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. We are privileged to be here and take very seriously our responsibilities toward the local environment and bio-diversity on site. During this time we’ve made continued and significant investments into reducing our impact, and have a programme of further changes planned for the remaining journey toward Net Zero. This is not merely the right thing to do, environmentally, it is also an enabler of competitive advantage for England, as we minimise our future spending on utilities and maximise investment into what it takes to win.”
Here are some highlights:
Energy and climate action
Solar panelling has been installed to the National Football Centre (NFC), generating renewable electricity which is used across the venue. The sustainability team at SGP are currently working on a further phase of installing solar panels on top of the hotel roof increasing the amount of renewable energy on site.
Work is complete to retrofit LED lighting to all areas of the NFC including all offices, changing rooms, 3G pitch and Futsal Arena. The program to install LED floodlights to all pitches is scheduled for completion in the season 2023/24. In addition, automatic controls have been fitted to all lighting across the facilities, to improve efficiency.
Meanwhile, electrical vehicle charging points have been successfully installed on site for customers and employees to utilise.
The project to upgrade the under-soil pitch heating system is currently in progress and once complete will mitigate the need to transport and burn diesel on site. Modern boilers and controls will be installed as part of the works replacing dated and inefficient equipment. In line with the FA Sustainability Strategy a program of works to install enhanced metering and monitoring of all utilities has commenced and will be completed by the end of 2023/24.
These combined efforts so far have led to consumption rates dropping by 22%.
Waste
We have appointed a local supplier for waste removal from the site, reducing the carbon footprint with unnecessary travel and ensuring SGP is zero to landfill. The waste removed from site is either recycled or used as a fuel in a local waste to energy plant, and green waste from the Grounds & Estates team is recycled with a local supplier.
Water
Water saving devices have been installed to all taps across the site, alongside the installation of drinking water fountains across the facilities to reduce the need to plastic water bottles.
Biodiversity
As part of a wider strategy led by our Estates team to protect and develop natural habitats within the 330 acres of St. George’s Park, a number of biodiversity projects are ongoing at the Staffordshire site.
By converting existing grassed areas to planted areas including everything from creation of new wildlife habitats, bug hotels, bird and bat boxes, and new wildflower meadows throughout the site, plant and animal life at St. George’s Park continues to grow and diversify.
Meanwhile, in partnership with The National Forest and as part of their Changing Landscape Scheme, we are planting over 4,000 trees during 2023 with the first one planted during Green Football Weekend (3-5 February). By working with The National Forest, we are two years into a new woodland management plan that covers all woodland and veteran trees over the estate.
The new trees will cover approximately 1.5 hectares close to pitch 3, and there are also plans to add a 450m2 pond to the area to attract new wildlife. Other key projects delivered include the planting of over 10,000 bulbs at various locations over the site, including woodland edges, under tree canopies, and high impact areas.
FAST
Our sustainability strategy is governed by FAST, The FA Group’s Sustainability Team. FAST is a group of passionate employees from across the business keen to continuously improve the way that we work. They drive progress on a range of issues, from energy and waste to community and wellbeing.
There are squads for each significant sustainability issue for events across the association, made up of employees passionate about reducing our environmental impacts, and squads meet on a quarterly basis to define targets, update on progress and discuss ideas.
Want to learn more?
You can read The FA Group’s sustainability commitment here.
For any sustainability enquiries, please contact sustainability@TheFA.com
