London won the gold medal its sustainability efforts, during the recent Summer Olympic Games. The facilities facilities- from the Olympic Park to the Velodrome to the main Stadium – make wide use of recycled materials and follow waste management guidelines. All purchases inside the Olympic Park and all packaging are 100% recyclable while the disposable products are green and made in Italy.

1. Planet Inspired: Paralympics, green flag
The London Olympic Games were the first to monitor greenhouse
gas emissions and to boast eco-sustainable buildings
London won the gold medal its sustainability efforts, during the
recent Summer Olympic Games. The facilities facilities- from the
Olympic Park to the Velodrome to the main Stadium - make wide
use of recycled materials and follow waste management guidelines.
All purchases inside the Olympic Park and all packaging are 100%
recyclable while the disposable products are green and made in
Italy.
The London Paralympic Games (parallel to the Olympics), now in
progress, are taking place, for the most part, in the same facilities
as the Olympics, with a diverse group of athletes competing.
They provide science the possibility of evaluating rehabilitation
and preparation systems and testing health as well as testing
mechanical devices that help to overcome handicaps and increase
performance. In other words, the Paralympics games are an
occasion for discovery, experience, and progress in the science and
technology fields.
The flag of sustainability flies over the Paralympic facilities as it did
during the XXX Games of the modern era, starting with the
industrial area of Stratford, covering an area equal to 297 football
fields, that was completely reclaimed. The terrain contained tar, oil,
solvents, lead and arsenic. The London Olympics were also the first
games to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and have eco-

2. sustainable buildings.
The Olympic Park, for example, obtained the FSC (Forest
Stewardship Council) certificate, for the use of recycled wood in the
construction of the buildings. Two thirds of all the wood used came
from managed plantations. The “Velodrome” has 17 kilometers of
recycled steel cables, equal to twice the height of Mount Everest.
The project is based on the efficient use of natural ventilation, to
the extent that there was no need to install an air-conditioning
system. For the construction of the three Olympic swimming pools,
the more than 800,000 ceramic tiles needed were delivered by train
directly inside the Olympic Park. 50 percent of all construction
material was transported via water or rail.
The 80,000-seat Main Stadium, that hosted the opening and closing
ceremonies, is the lightest building in the Olympics. The load-
bearing structure of the roof was built with 2500 tons of recycled
steel pipes. The walkway that leads to West Ham station, on the
other hand, is illuminated round-the-clock thanks to the pressure
created by the people walking on it.
The system was built by the British company Pavegen. It is
estimated that it will be stepped on more than 12 million times,
generating 12,000,000 joules. Enough to light the walkway for 8
hours at full power during the evening and 16 hours at half power
during the day. The system should also produce a surplus of 35%
that will be stored in batteries.
It is therefore understandable why the Games obtained the British
environmental sustainability certificate Breeamand complied with
the Iso 20121 standard, that derives from the work of the British
Standards Intitution, responsible for defining the new global
standard for sustainable event management systems. In 2008, a
representative of this interdisciplinary group came to Turin, Italy, to
meet with the people in charge of the scientific preparation of the
project "Events with reduced environmental impact" applied to the
Salone del Gusto e Terra Madre.
The purpose of the visit was to study the use of products and
techniques to reduce the impact of the large event on the
ecosystem as much as possible. The materials analyzed included
Novamont's Mater-Bi, used for the production of biodegradable and
naturally compostable single-use items. The results of the study
were positive and the organizers of the Olympic Games decided to
distribute in their restaurants the cutlery and cups with lids
developed by the three companies (in Novara, Vicenza and Naples
respectively), flagship of Italian research in this sector. All
purchases inside the Olympic Park and all packaging were therefore

3. 100%.
“In London, we showed that some solutions can be valid and
exported from extraordinary events such as the Olympics to
organic waste collection management systems in British towns,”
stated Alberto Castellanza, head of Novamont's catering sector.
In conclusion, Italy with its state of the art companies was
undoubtedly helping to carry the green flag in London.
Fonte: Planet Inspired
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