Anheuser-Busch bringing reverse vending machine to Super Bowl LVII

Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, is bringing a Cycle reverse vending machine to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, giving attendees the opportunity to recycle their beverage containers in exchange for prizes. The company previously installed Cycle machines at NFL and MLB stadiums.

The company says every beverage container recycled at the Super Bowl using the Recycle Track Systems (RTS) Cycle machine will give the user an instant prize, as well as an opportunity to be entered to win a pair of tickets to the 2023 NFL regular season. Ten grand prize winners will be announced by the end of March.

The contest is part of Anheuser-Busch’s National Recycling League, which the company says was created in 2022 to help reduce waste on gamedays across multiple professional sports leagues.

“We approach everything we do at Anheuser-Busch with an innovative mindset so that we can create an outsized impact for our customers, our communities and our environment,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth says. “Since the creation of the National Recycling League last year, we’ve worked together with our professional league and team partners and sports fans to divert thousands of pounds of recyclables out of landfills—truly working towards a shared dream of a future with less gameday waste and more cheers.”

Anheuser-Busch adds that the National Recycling League was created to bring visibility to the importance of recycling and impact those behaviors among consumers wherever they cheer on their favorite team, whether it’s in-stadium, at home or at their local bar. The league currently consists of teams from the MLB and NFL, with more professional sports leagues coming on board later this year.

Ten NFL teams worked with Anheuser-Busch on recycling and waste-reducing programs during the 2022-23 season, including the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks.

The company says each team committed to implementing a range of new National Recycling League activations aimed at reducing scrap and improving recycling rates at stadiums to help divert recyclable materials such as beer bottles and cans from landfills. Activations included offering recyclable aluminum cups to fans instead of single-use plastic, in-seat recycling decals and in-stadium signage sharing the message “Recycle like a champion.”

“Rewarding fans for recycling has changed the game for sustainability and the path to net-zero,” says Greg Lettieri, CEO of New York-based RTS. “At RTS, we celebrate our partnership with Anheuser-Busch to bring our Cycle reverse vending machine to the Super Bowl and provide real-time fan engagement and recycling data for the biggest game in sports. We’re energized to see Cycle kick off our collective efforts to build a future without waste.”

Anheuser-Busch says the National Recycling League builds on its commitment to sustainable packaging and recycling, including through its 2025 sustainability goals and as a member of the Green Sports Alliance. By 2025, the company has committed that 100 percent of its packaging will be made from majority recycled content or will be returnable.