A new life for stadium seats

The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has made it a critical theme as they aim for a fully circular economy by 2050. ‘Circular City’ is one of the main urban challenges of the Urban Technology research programme of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS).

Its chair of Circular Design & Business and its research group on Digital Production collaborate with companies, lecturers and students on a range of applied research projects in order to advance the knowledge around circular design and business model strategies making use of digital production to encourage the local reuse of discarded urban materials.

The Amsterdam ArenA, home to the Ajax football team and a major events venue, is replacing all of its stadium seats in a socially responsible manner ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020. To achieve this, they engaged the expertise of the Urban Technology research programme at the AUAS to study the viability of reusing the old seats in a circular manner.

The research started from the assumption that these discarded seats not only form a large and relatively homogeneous waste stream, but also have an emotional value that can potentially raise their economic value, beyond that of the material alone This case study has the potential to serve as an example for other stadiums and public buildings to handle discarded products and rethink waste prevention.

(For more information, read AUAS’ Article here.)