Sustainability

Our sustainability journey began in 2007 when we realised Croke Park had an important part to play in managing our impact on the natural world and influencing others to do the same.  Since then we have been on a learning journey that has delivered rich rewards.

Our commitment to sustainable events is central to our operations and ethos at Croke Park. We have championed sustainability, not just locally, but on a global scale, and been accredited to international standards for sustainable event management and environmental management for over 10 years.

DOWNLOAD OUR SUSTAINABILITY STORY EBOOK

Sustainability Objectives

1. Mainstream sustainability across all stadium operations
2. Encourage awareness of sustainability and respect for the community and environment among stadium staff and visitors
3. Showcase sustainable event initiatives for the industry and wider community.

Energy

Energy efficiency is an area of major focus for Croke Park. In 2008, we put in place a state-of-the-art environmental improvement programme covering the stadiums electricity usage to reduce carbon emissions by two thirds.

Since then, we introduced a range of energy efficiency measures to maintain this and further reduced energy usage by 20%.

Download ebook for more about energy

Waste

In 2014, Croke Park achieved the landmark of full waste diversion from landfill, a record that the stadium has maintained ever since. 100% of the waste produced is recycled, reused, or recovered as solid fuel.

Not only is 0% of stadium waste sent to landfill - there has also been a 12% reduction in the past 5 years! 

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Water

We are members of the Water Stewardship Programme, run by Irish Water. The programme, accredited to European Water Stewardship Standards (EWS), is designed to help reduce water consumption and introduce more efficient water management and monitoring across the facility and operations.

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Biodiversity & Nature

Our biodiversity programme started in 2015 and we now have a campus wide ‘Mitigation & Creation’ policy to ensure all building projects replace any affected habitats. This has led to extensive planting of native trees, shrubs, and flowers.
 
In 2018, we purchased a farm to grow turf for pitch maintenance benefiting turf quality and reducing carbon emissions associated with importation. The farm is also used to grow herbs and vegetables for our kitchens and has ten beehives producing honey.

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Community

Our relationship with our neighbours is very important to us and we continue to develop stronger relations, lessen the impact of our events and help our local area thrive with a calendar of special initiatives & events.

Our Community Liaison Officer manages an extensive community engagement programme. This includes multichannel communications, the event-day Community Team and the Croke Park Community Fund.

Read more about Community here
 

Accessibility

We have been working to improve accessibility in Croke Park to make the stadium a welcoming space for all.  The venue features a Changing Places facility to enhance the health, safety, comfort and dignity of stadium visitors who may need extra support.

Tours and experiences at The GAA Museum are adapted for those with accessibility needs or intellectual disabilities and a new sensory space for match-day is also planned.

Certifications

Croke Park is certified to three international standards and audited annually to ensure compliance and oversee our ambitious programme of continual improvement across all areas of Health & Safety and Environmental and Sustainability Management.
 
  • ISO 40001 in Occupation Health & Safety
  • ISO 14001 in Environmental Management
  • ISO 20121 in Sustainable Event Management
Read more about our achievements here.

Sustainable Meetings & Events

Our stadium wide sustainability culture is embraced across all aspects of Croke Park Meetings & Events with sustainable practices applied in the hosting of all events.
  • PIR sensors manage efficient light usage
  • ‘Power Walks’ to check equipment power down
  • Event waste recycling and composting
  • 100% compostable single use coffee cups
  • Recreate Ireland - repurpose – reuse - redistribute
  • Menu focus on local suppliers and Croke Park farm produce
  • Paperless Meetings / sustainable stationary
  • Venue LCD signage screens
Download ebook for event sustainability resources