An event with thousands of participants at the start every year: it is not always easy for Challenge Almere-Amsterdam, despite its intentions, to be completely sustainable. This is precisely why the new partnership with Milieu Service Nederland is a good development: they will be the sustainability partner of Europe’s oldest triathlon for at least the next three years.
The brand new partnership was signed last week, in the presence of a group of volunteer managers of Challenge Almere-Amsterdam. At the same time, a brainstorm was conducted to immediately come up with ways in which Challenge Almere-Amsterdam can make all the upcoming edition, scheduled for Sept. 9, 2023, more sustainable. “We have of course already put a lot of effort into making our event more sustainable in recent years,” organizer Jefry Visser explains. “But you soon notice that you can always do more. And that’s what we want: more sustainability is always good. It’s great to have found a professional partner like Milieu Service Nederland in this mission. They make issues easier for us and also have much more expertise in this area.” Dennis Ostendorf, commercial director of Milieu Service Nederland: “As a sustainability partner, we are going to activate and stimulate the organization, volunteers, participants and visitors to consciously deal with sustainable choices. We will focus on communication and behavioral change, with a focus on waste separation at the source.”
Some of the trajectories that have started immediately will undoubtedly have a major effect. Visser: “For example, there will be more and better visable signing on and around the event area, which will help guests and athletes better separate their waste. In addition, our catering will work with deposits on the cups and reusable materials, and we have already started a project with Milieu Service Nederland to recycle used bottles. As an event in Almere, we logically also embrace the ambition of the municipality, which has the ambition to be waste-free.”
