The Iconic stadium, Johan Cruijff ArenA Amsterdam

For the Johan Cruijff ArenA, a stadium renowned for hosting world-class events, food waste management posed a significant challenge. Rising costs, emissions from transporting waste to incinerators, and the loss of valuable resources made the need for a sustainable solution clear. Additionally, the stadium is situated in a historically diverse neighbourhood with lower income levels, amplifying the importance of addressing local social challenges. The ArenA’s vision to align with the City of Amsterdam’s “doughnut economy” initiative—focused on maintaining social and ecological boundaries—called for innovative action.

The turning point: choosing on-site food waste valorization

The football stadium, home to the Amsterdam football club Ajax and to multiple music concerts and events, had developed a pioneering Net Zero Strategy. Leveraging both solar energy as well as battery storage, they were pushing the envelope in terms of decarbonization. In line with this, they sought a solution that not only reduced waste management costs but also aligned with their commitment to sustainability and community impact. Partnering with The Waste Transformers, the Johan Cruijff ArenA installed the on-site Waste Transformer to process food waste locally, test the fertilizer to grow professional sport pitches and thereby closing the loop in food waste management.

The solution

The Waste Transformer, located directly next to the stadium, processes food waste from stadium events and nearby corporate office restaurants. People with a distance to the labour market, supported by their coaches collect the food waste at the different sites and process this inside the Waste Transformer biodigester. The food-waste based fertilizer is up for certification to change the status quo of chemical fertilizers being used. 

Achieving goals

• Inspire action: Welcome over 2,000 visitors annually to its B2B Innovation Tours, showcasing innovative and smart technologies like the Waste Transformer at the stadium.
• Advanced research: Partner with researchers to study circular economy practices, including the use and certification of food waste-based fertilizer to grow professional sports fields.
• Attract like-minded clients: The net-zero strategy provided by the stadium, influenced the choice of the international band ColdPlay, to choose the venue as part of their concert tour. The band recorded a movie and shared this to their 24 million Instagram followers highlighting the Waste Transformer co-powering their concert. 

What's next? Growing grass on valorized food waste

The Johan Cruijff ArenA has become a living example of how leading stadiums can turn food waste into a valuable resource, inspiring action locally and globally. From reduced and measured CO2 emissions to the production of sustainable energy and biobased fertilizer, the stadium demonstrates how food waste reaches impact far beyond its origins. 

Your food waste solution is within reach

Imagine transforming your food waste into opportunities for brand impact, sustainability, and employee retention. Join the Johan Cruijff ArenA and others in taking control of your food waste with a Waste Transformer biodigester on-site.