The Minnesota Twins and Target Field, where Delaware North Sportservice provides food, beverage and retail services, recently announced they will receive the 2019 Leadership Award for Outstanding Commitment to advancing green building by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Delaware North has supported the Twins’ mission to be the “Greenest Ballpark in America” since it became the team’s hospitality partner in 2010 when Target Field opened. Through its environmental stewardship platform, GreenPath, Delaware North has focused on two areas: food donations and cutting food waste, and overall waste diversion and recycling.
Donating Unused Food to Local Charities
Delaware North donates more than 10 tons of food to local charities each season. Through a partnership with Rock and Wrap It UP! Inc., representatives from Joseph’s Storehouse in Brooklyn Park box up all prepared but untouched meals at Target Field, donating the unused food to local charities. To date, these efforts have kept more than 53 tons of waste out of local landfills. Throughout the partnership, Delaware North has donated:
- 307,411 hot dogs and brats
- 50,560 hamburgers
- 24,047 chicken breasts
Recycling, Composting and Converting Waste to Energy
Through aggressive recycling and waste-to-energy programs, the Twins kept more than 10,870 tons of waste out of local landfills from 2011 to 2018:
- 3,520 tons of trash have been sent to the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center.
- 4,151 tons of waste have been recycled from Target Field.
- 3,199 tons of organic materials have been composted and diverted from landfills.
Since 2015, the Twins and Delaware North have partnered with Eco-Products – the nation’s leading brand of single-use foodservice packaging made from renewable and recycled resources – to supply Target Field’s compostable cups, plates, trays, utensils and straws. Much of the packaging relies on a material called Ingeo™, a compostable resin made by a company called NatureWorks headquartered a short distance from Target Field in Minnetonka. Thanks to the partnership with Eco-Products and the help of fans, the Twins have composted 2,207 tons of trash over the last four years (2015-18).