Wembley Stadium collected two awards at TheStadiumBusiness Awards Summit 2012 in Turin on Tuesday night and further cemented its place as one of the best venues in the world. The awards were for Sustainability and for the Sport Event of the Year.

TheStadiumBusiness Awards Summit brought together a selection of the best stadium venues worldwide and pitted them against each other in categories including Venue of the Year, Sports Event of the Year, Guest Event of the Year and Customer Experience Award. There were 18 award categories in total and after hundreds of nominations a shortlist was created which was judged by an independent panel of global industry figures.

The 2011 Champions League Final put together arguably the two best club teams in the world: Manchester United and Barcelona. The 2011 Final was watched by around 400 million viewers worldwide and Wembley Stadium was recognised for this showpiece event in the category of Sports Event of the Year. Wembley Stadium staved off competition from the likes of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final at Commerzbank Arena and England v India npower Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground among others. The award was collected by Lindsey Jackson (Head of Special Projects) and Andy Carter.

Wembley Stadium’s second award came in the category of Sustainability. The Sustainability Award recognised achievement, success and leadership demonstrated by the Green Team at the Stadium who have been improving environmental performance at Wembley Stadium since 2007. This award emphasised the success of Wembley Stadium’s Environmental Management System (EMS), which manages the impacts from key areas such as energy, waste, water, transport and sustainable procurement.

Key achievements include:

 The Stadium reduced electricity consumption by 28% between 2007 and 2011

 Wembley Stadium is a ‘zero waste to landfill’ venue

 Event-day recycling rates now exceed 77%

For the Sustainability Award, Wembley Stadium faced stiff opposition in the form of Old Trafford (Manchester United), Home Depot Centre (home of LA Galaxy) and the Green Sports Alliance in the USA.

James Huartson (Sustainability Manger) was present to accept the award on behalf of Wembley Stadium and Greg Gillin, Group Stadium Operations Director commented on the success. “We are delighted to receive ‘TheStadiumBusiness Awards’ Sustainability Award, which is evidence of all the hard work Wembley’s Green Team has put into improving our environmental performance since 2007.”

Speaking today after such a successful evening, Wembley Stadium Managing Director, Roger Maslin further emphasised the continued efforts by all at Wembley to continue its sustainability endeavours: “Wembley’s Board and Senior Management are committed to demonstrating leadership in environmental management. Achieving ‘TheStadiumBusiness Awards’ Sustainability Award is great recognition of our achievements at a global level.”

It is another fantastic achievement by everyone at Wembley Stadium and once again highlights the diversity of strengths that the Stadium possesses, both in terms of events and its capability to provide sustainable venue and event management.