Seattle Mariners receive MLB’s 2020 Green Glove Award

Major League Baseball has named the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants recipients of the 2020 Green Glove Award, which recognizes the MLB Club with the highest diversion rate (amount of waste diverted from landfill for recycling). During the 2020 season, the Mariners recycling rate was 98%, meaning almost all the waste generated at T-Mobile Park was recycled, composted or reused. The Giants also achieved a recycling rate of 98%.

The Mariners received their first Green Glove Award in 2017, and the team has been the top recycler for the American League every year since 2010, when MLB began recognizing teams’ sustainability efforts.

The Mariners were able to achieve the remarkable 98% recycling rate with the assistance of ABM, the Mariners housekeeping services provider at T-Mobile Park. During 2020, ABM sorted waste collected at the ballpark to divert recyclables from the waste stream. Out of almost 2.2 million pounds of waste, 2.14 million pounds was composted, recycled, or in the case of edible food items, donated to community feeding programs.

The Mariners commitment to sustainability goes beyond recycling. Over the years, the team has significantly reduced the use of natural gas, electricity and water through conservation and resource-efficient equipment and building materials.

In 2014, the Mariners became the first MLB team to illuminate the playing field with LED lights. The LED fixtures use 60% less power while producing brighter light. The Mariners are currently in the process of replacing all fixtures inside and outside T-Mobile Park with LED. The energy saved just from converting the exterior lighting will be enough electricity to power 400 homes.

Solar panels installed on top of the skybridge connecting T-Mobile Park to the Mariners parking garage generate 40,000 kilowatt hours of power annually. In addition, solar panels at the Mariners Spring Training headquarters at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona produce enough electricity to meet half of the team’s power needs each year.

Moving into the future, the Mariners plan to incorporate sustainability into upcoming infrastructure projects. Over the next 10 years alone, the Mariners will spend $280 million on ballpark improvements and upgrades. Working with a consultant, the Mariners will incorporate sustainability into every part of the projects from planning to construction to operation to ensure that T-Mobile Park remains a first class facility in every way.