Sustainability at The O2

The O2 is the ultimate example of urban transformation following its rebirth from an unused Millennium Dome, to what has now become the world’s most popular music, leisure, and entertainment venue. 

Our mission is to operate responsibly and catalyse the influence of live entertainment to preserve the planet for future generations. A typical show at The O2 still emits carbon via our electricity usage, our heating and cooling systems, the food and drinks we serve, the fan transportation to and from events and the productions we’re hosting on stage. Reducing the impact of all this is priority for The O2 and below are just some of the initiatives we’re deploying to help achieve this.

Transport
We utilise electric vehicles for parcel deliveries across site, deploy electric in-house machinery and are increasing our EV Charging capabilities. The O2 is also easily accessible via all forms of public transport.  
Plastic
We've moved to a reusable cup system which reduces the amount of waste we produce while improving the fan experience. We've also removed single-use-plastics from our concessions, introduced seaweed-based serveware and installed water-refill stations around the arena to reduce reliance on plastic water bottles. 
Energy
All the electricity we use comes from solar and hydro projects around the UK via a groundbreaking Power Purchase Agreement with Ecotricity.  We're also upgrading our kitchen appliances to electric and constantly looking for efficiencies in energy usage, such as switching to LED lights and improving our heating and cooling systems. In 2023 alone, these efforts delivered over 300,000kwh in savings – enough to power 108 households for a year.  
Food & drink

Our industry-leading Food Charter sets annual targets for our catering services across three big topics: Carbon, Waste and the Environment. We've reduced our reliance on red meat, banned air-freight for food items and created carbon impact ratings for our menus to arm fans with the info they need to make better choices. Any food waste is converted into compost at industrial centres or at our on-site wormery while edible, unused food is donated to those in need.

Waste
We never send our waste to landfill and are constantly trailing new methods to improve our recycling rates, with accurately labelled bins and back-of-house sorting teams helping to keep our waste streams clean. We look to donate items which can be reused and our digital ticketing through AXS Mobile ID has also saved over 2million paper tickets a year. 
Biodiversity
Our new Urban Garden has revitalised a disused plot of land on our site. It now houses 30,000 bees, newts and a vegetable patch, with all furniture and infrastructure made from repurposed materials.  
Development

​​​​​​​Outlet Shopping at The O2 opened in 2018 and throughout its build, had sustainability principles embedded in the design and construction elements. The scheme includes low-flush toilets and low-flow taps that provide over 55% reduction in water use compared to the BREEAM baseline; it’s estimated that these fixtures save over 8.5 million litres of water per year, roughly equivalent to the usage of 52 British households’ usage. 

Our journey is ongoing
We’ve come a long way, we've achieved the 'Commended' status certification awarded by A Greener Future but there’s much further for us to go, and we’re committed to continually improving our impact year after year. Watch this space for all the exciting new initiatives we’ll be announcing soon.
What can you do?
Take public transport
The majority of our carbon footprint is generated by fan travel. You can help reduce this by taking one of the many amazing public transport options (from tube and bus to ferry and cable car!) to get to The O2. 
Go plant based
Choosing plant-based options for your dinner has a huge effect on your environmental impact. Take a look at the environmental labels we've added to every food item to help make a more planet-friendly choice.
Use the right bin
Each of our bins has clear signage to help guide you to using the correct one. Placing your waste in the correct bin helps to keep our waste streams clean and has a big impact on our overall recycling rates.  
Carbon Removed Events
In 2023 we announced that we will be the first arena worldwide to host “carbon removed” events in collaboration with carbon removal experts CUR8 and event sustainability specialists, A Greener Future. 
More info
The O2 Green Rider
In November 2023, The O2 launched a Green Rider intended to drive industry change and make live events at the world-famous venue more sustainable. The Green Rider will act as a helpful guide for incoming productions, with recommendations for how to make more sustainable choices and reduce their overall environmental impact  
Facts and Stats

2011: Introduction of an on-site wormery to compost food waste and generate fertilizer

2012: The O2 began purchasing green energy

2015: The O2 invested heavily in energy reduction projects, such as new technology LED lighting, sensor activation and continues to do so

2015: We installed power monitoring equipment and software to target and monitor the arena’s electrical energy consumption

2017: Installed electric vehicle charging stations in our parking area

2018: The O2 won the Greener Greenwich Awards which celebrates organisations that can prove great consideration for the environment and the climate emergency

2019: The O2 arena reduced its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by nearly 80% (79% when comparing 2019 to the 2010 base year)

2019: The O2 implemented a green cleaning program, replacing traditional cleaning chemicals with environmentally friendly alternatives.

2022: The O2 was the first arena in England to be awarded the Greener Arena award.

Overheated at The O2
  • In June 2022, The O2 in partnership with Billie Eilish, REVERB and Support + Feed launched Overheated at The O2, a cross-campus climate festival  
  • As part of this we made significant reductions to the amount of single use plastic at the venue, including the introduction of recycled PET plastic wristbands, paper cups and the installation of water dispensers 
  • Together with our catering partner, Levy, we went 100% vegan on food throughout the arena and have removed the concession staple beef burger from our menu permanently,