Crypto.com Arena And R.World Roll Out Pilot Reuse Program This Weekend With Depeche Mode

Crypto.com Arena and AEG are launching a pilot program with reuse platform r.World during the downtown Los Angeles venue’s highly anticipated, Live Nation-produced Dec. 15 and 17 concerts with Depeche Mode, with the introduction of the r.Cup reusable beverage cup.

In an effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic at the arena – which reportedly counts as many as 15,000 single-use cups per event – the program advances AEG’s commitment to sustainability and marks a pioneering collaboration with r.World.

It’s not the 20,000-capacity venue’s first effort toward reducing plastic waste. With partner ABM, Crypto.com Arena now sorts, on site, single-use food service ware for recycling and the addition of the r.World program will allow both the ability to divert hundreds of thousands of single-use cups from the waste stream through reuse.

For the pilot event, “We are ordering 26,000 cups for both nights,” Crypto.com Arena President Lee Zeidman tells Pollstar. “We are going to put 182 recycling bins in and around Crypto.com Arena for those two nights. We believe the cost is going to be close to four or four-and-a-half times as much as it would be if we just bought [single-use] plastic cups. But we felt that this was the right thing to do.”

Zeidman says he heard from Live Nation that Depeche Mode was very interested in sustainability on its “Memento Mori World Tour.” The tour is booked by WME and agent Keith Sarkisian and, in the past three years, Depeche Mode has averaged 21,491 per show attendance and a gross of $2,552,703, as reported to Pollstar. “They reached out to us and wanted to know what we do as a building and what we were potentially looking to do moving forward. Live Nation has a relationship with a company called TURN, which does [reusable] cups as well. We have a relationship with r.Cup and r.World,” Zeidman explains.

AEG already partners with r.World to supply reusable products at festivals and concert venues like the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. The company also has a substantial presence at AEG venues in Denver, including Bluebird Theater, Gothic Theatre, Mission Ballroom and Ogden Theatre.

“We’re excited to work with Crypto.com Arena – as one of the busiest venues in the world, the positive environmental impact potential of reuse is massive,” said Michael Martin, r.World Founder and CEO. “They’ve led the industry and operated in the most environmentally innovative ways since opening in 1999, and so it’s no surprise they’re launching the pilot reuse program in the L.A. market and, ultimately, driving change across the live events industry.”

Martin is founder and CEO of r.Cup, which expanded into r.World – along with its services, market reach and impact – in October.

Following the pilot program, Crypto.com Arena says it will evaluate data from the Depeche Mode concerts and determine what’s next.

“We hope the data will help us and in meetings with our Global Partnerships division to get some sponsors on board with [the program] for future expansion,” Zeidman says.