Toronto, the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional territory of the Chippewa, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee peoples (March 3) — This summer, Toronto will host six FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches at BMO Field, and nearly a month of screening parties and celebrations at the Fan Festival nearby at Fort York.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors will enjoy food, drinks, and sports over the multi-week tournament. These events could help launch a new chapter of zero waste events in Toronto - or they could leave mountains of single-use garbage.
By choosing reusable cups and foodware, Toronto can model events that leave our city clean, and help make the shift to a green circular economy. We’re calling on the City, MLSE, and event organizers to share their game plan to make these events reusable.
TEA’s analysis shows that more than one million single-use, throwaway items could be avoided by replacing disposables with reusable cups and foodware at FIFA events this summer.
Our report Kicking off with reusables: The opportunity of the FIFA World Cup 26™ for Canadian events includes case studies, best practices, interviews with reuse providers in Canada and key policy trends. You can find a summary of this report here.
“Reusables have already rolled out at major sports events like the Superbowl, the Paris Olympics, and even locally at many events and street festivals in Toronto,” says Emily Alfred, Senior Waste Campaigner at TEA. “Local reuse systems are ready to meet the scale of FIFA. With 100 days to go, we’re looking for confirmation that this key sustainability step will move ahead.”
BC Place stadium in Vancouver will host seven FIFA matches, and made the switch to reusable cups for all poured drinks in 2025. MLSE has not yet confirmed a plan for reuse at BMO Field in Toronto.
The City of Toronto has taken a key step to enable reuse by allocating funding to support reusable cups and foodware at Fan Festival as part of the FIFA sustainability legacy initiatives. We hope to hear more details soon about how event organizers will roll this out.
“Providing recycling and organics collection for events of this scale is the bare minimum,” adds Emily Alfred. “For a truly sustainable legacy, we need to shift away from mountains of disposable items to durable, reusable foodware that can be washed locally and reused dozens of times.”
Quick Facts:
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Toronto’s FIFA WC26 Secretariat allocated up to $200,000 to support reusable cups and foodware at the FIFA Fan Festival™ as part of the FIFA sustainability legacy initiatives. (See report to the Council’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Subcommittee here.)
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Many large events and stadiums across North America hire local service providers to supply and wash reusable cups and foodware, at costs that can be competitive with some single-use options. This also avoids the cost of purchasing disposables and hauling associated waste. See TEA’s report for case studies including Pride Toronto, BC Place stadium, and others.
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BC Place stadium in Vancouver will be hosting seven FIFA matches, and already switched to reusable cups for all poured drinks in fall 2025.
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The FIFA Fan Festival™ in Toronto will run for up to 25 days and attract up to 25,000 fans for each streamed game or celebration. That could add up to 625,000 disposables and 11,250 kg of waste, making it a huge opportunity for reducing single-use, disposable waste over a long period of time.
TEA’s report Kicking off with reusables: The opportunity of the FIFA World Cup 26™ for Canadian events was funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada and includes four case studies, best practices, interviews with reuse providers in Canada and key policy trends. You can find a summary of this report here.
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