St. Louis City SC has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council for its operations and maintenance protocols of Energizer Park.
The team earned points in transportation performance for its access to public transit and bike/pedestrian paths; for its water efficiency and stormwater treatment facility under the stadium (thanks to the presence of an underground spring on the property); for its zero-waste operations; for energy efficiency and refrigerant management; and for its indoor environmental quality performance.
The voluntary program, which is not government affiliated, has grown from one rating system for new construction when it launched in 2000 to a comprehensive measurement of all aspects of the development, construction and operations process. A venue can earn points across seven categories, based on its impact on climate change (35% of the credits); human health (20%); water resources (15%); the “green economy” (10%); regional priority (10%); the local community (5%); and natural resources (5%).
The 22,500-seat stadium opened in late 2022 as a no-single-use-plastic stadium with the goal of reaching zero waste by creating an all-compostable and recyclable food and beverage program and in-house waste-sorting operation. The stadium concessions offerings consist of 25 local restaurant partners who earned more than $6 million in additional revenue in 2023 and 2024, according to a team official. Pepsi, the venue’s pouring rights partner, serves beverages exclusively in aluminum bottles and cups. Employees from hometown Anheuser-Busch help fans compost and recycle at the 211 multistream waste containers throughout the park. Yeti developed a 24-ounce, co-branded Rambler that fans can bring in and out of the stadium all season for free water and soft drink refills, the first program of its kind in U.S. professional sports. The cup sells for $89.99 and “2025 sales have well exceeded expectations and positive fan approval, and have already exceeded all of 2024 by 15%,” said Joe Abernathy, the club’s vice president of stadium operations.
“We were able to reach zero waste in 2024 with an average diversion rate of 90.3% across all 20 MLS matches and have hosted three consecutive zero-waste matches in 2025,” Abernathy said, noting that the team last year composted more than 42 tons of waste; recycled 25 tons, including 14 tons of aluminum; and sent only 8.5 tons of waste to the landfill.
Those numbers are expected to improve with the April 19 debut of eight Oscar Sort stations, which use artificial intelligence to increase waste-sorting efficiency, and help motivate and educate fans on sustainable practices and partnerships.
Manufactured by Vancouver-based Intuitive AI, Pepsi paid for the acquisition, installation and associated licensing fees, and its logo will be prominently visible for fans to see.
“Sorting waste is the only way to ensure the most possible waste gets recycled and composted instead of going to the landfill or incinerator, and right now, most facilities rely on humans to sort through each item after the event, which is time consuming, takes up a lot of space and can be expensive,” said Kristen Fulmer, who leads the sustainability program for Oak View Group. “The emergence of AI technology can auto-sort various items to ensure they go to the right stream. This technology can also be placed front-of-house and can become an interactive way to engage fans on placing waste in the right bin.”
Other LEED-certified soccer-specific stadiums
Stadium (primary tenants)
Audi Field (D.C. United, Washington Spirit, USL Super League DC Power FC)
BMO Stadium (LAFC)
CPKC Stadium (Kansas City Current)
Q2 Stadium (Austin FC)
Shell Energy Stadium (Houston Dynamo FC, Houston Dash)
