The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is entering its fourth year of onsite reuse, expanding its program across the 2026 and 2027 USC football seasons in partnership with r.World, the nation’s leading reuse-focused company. The expansion comes as the LA Coliseum prepares to become the only venue in history to host events at three Olympic Games.

The first Los Angeles stadium to bring reuse inside its gates, the LA Coliseum has spent over a decade building one of the most decorated waste programs in American sports. Since 2015, the iconic venue has diverted more than 1,600 tons of gameday waste from landfills, hand sorting all its waste, and reached an overall diversion rate of 90.1 percent during the 2025 football season, helping its status as the second-largest college stadium in the country to achieve Zero Waste. In 2024, the Green Sports Alliance also recognized the LA Coliseum for its innovative work and this past year, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was awarded with the Material Management Champion Award.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s reuse expansion also reflects a broader shift across California, where SB 54, the state’s landmark packaging law, requires a share of mandated plastic reduction to come from reuse and refill systems.

Throughout the upcoming seasons, fans will be served beverages in reusable 12-ounce r.Cups. They will simply enjoy their drinks and return the cups to clearly marked yellow r.Cup return bins located throughout the stadium. r.World will then collect the cups and transport them to its Los Angeles Wash Hub, where they will be professionally washed, sanitized and prepared for use again. The program is expected to eliminate tens of thousands of single-use cups across the upcoming two seasons.

“We’ve spent a decade pushing our diversion rate past 90 percent and, at that point, the next gain won’t come from sorting better, but from not creating the waste in the first place,” said Matthew Buswell, Director of Stadium Operations & Sustainability, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “Reuse is how we get there. After three seasons of running these programs, our staff and fans know exactly what to do, and we’re ready to take our impact further with r.World.”

Operating reuse at the Coliseum’s scale takes more than offering durable cups to fans. It requires convenient return points throughout the venue, trained staff to keep the system running smoothly, and the logistics to collect, transport, wash and recirculate thousands of items between events. The venue selected r.World for its proven ability to bring all of those pieces together, efficiently and reliably.

r.World has successfully implemented reuse across major sports venues and live events nationwide for nearly a decade, with programs regularly achieving return rates above 90 percent. That experience, combined with its local Los Angeles infrastructure and onsite operational support, allows r.World to manage the tens of thousands of cups that move through its system after events.

“Venues don’t keep a reuse program because it sounds good. It has to hold up in front of tens of thousands of people on a gameday,” said Michael Martin, Founder and CEO of r.World. “The Coliseum has been willing to lead on waste for years, and their deepening of their reuse commitment says more about what’s possible at this scale than any single result could. We’re glad to put our Los Angeles infrastructure to work for their fans.”

For over a century, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has played a major role in sports and entertainment. Home to USC football since 1923, the National Historic Landmark has hosted two Olympic Games, two Super Bowls, a World Series and generations of major sporting, cultural and entertainment events. In 2028, it will serve as the home of Athletics and Para Athletics, co-host the Olympic Opening Ceremony and host both the Olympic and Paralympic Closing Ceremonies.

As the Coliseum prepares for its next century, reuse is one more way the landmark stadium is evolving for the future while setting an example for large-scale sports and entertainment venues to follow. About the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The 76,000+ seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is one of the world’s most iconic sports venues, serving as the home of college football’s USC Trojans, while hosting some of the most significant events in sports history. As the only stadium to host the Summer Olympic Games three times—1932, 1984, and the upcoming 2028 Games—the Coliseum has also welcomed NFL Super Bowls, baseball World Series games, and countless international events. The Coliseum has hosted hundreds of matches featuring the world’s top clubs and national teams, most recently hosted four days of the Official FIFA 2026 World Cup Fan Festival.

About the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The 76,000+ seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is one of the world’s most iconic sports venues, serving as the home of college football’s USC Trojans, while hosting some of the most significant events in sports history. As the only stadium to host the Summer Olympic Games three times—1932, 1984, and the upcoming 2028 Games—the Coliseum has also welcomed NFL Super Bowls, baseball World Series games, and countless international events. The Coliseum has hosted hundreds of matches featuring the world’s top clubs and national teams, most recently hosted four days of the Official FIFA 2026 World Cup Fan Festival.

About r.World
r.World is the nation’s leading reuse company, helping organizations move away from single-use waste with a simple, turnkey, operationally seamless, and high-impact reusable system. From sports teams and stadiums to live events and corporate campuses, r.World partners with venues and operations of all sizes to make reuse easy for both businesses and consumers. Powered by r.Turn – its proprietary platform that tracks inventory and environmental impact – r.World helps divert millions of single-use cups and containers from landfills every year. Founded in 2017, r.World is redefining convenience for a more sustainable future. Learn more at rworldreuse.com.