One day after the London Olympics were declared closed by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, the manufacturer of the 306 polyester-based fabric panels surrounding Olympic Stadium announced plans Monday to repurpose the material for charitable organizations in three regions of the world.
The Dow Chemical Company, the "official chemistry company of the Olympic Games," is partnering with Axion Recycling and UK building and development charity Article 25 to assist projects in the UK, Uganda and Brazil (site of the 2016 Summer Olympics). Each fabric panel measures approximately 82 feet high by eight feet wide and stretches from the concourse ground to the upper tier of Olympic Stadium - which was designed to be partially dismantled to significantly reduce its maximum capacity.
0820_OlympicStadiumWrap.jpg
The move is part of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games' strategy to stage the world's first truly sustainable Games. In Brazil, Dow and Article 25 are exploring opportunities with the Bola Pra Frente Institute to construct a shaded community area at the organization's new facility in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The Institute was created in 2000 to help children and teenagers from underprivileged communities through social programs focused on education, sports, arts and professional training. The same sheltering solution will be used as part of Article 25's work with Jubilee Action at a vocational training and counseling center for former child soldiers in Uganda. The stadium wrap panels will remain as much in their current shape as possible to retain the look of the Games. Dow also is working with Manchester-based Axion Recycling to implement additional projects for reuse or recycling of the wrap within the UK.
"These projects will build understanding about the importance of the use and reuse of materials in the global community," said Robin Cross, director of projects and CEO of Article 25. "London won the honor of hosting the Olympics in 2012 by promising to inspire a generation of young people around the world to greater heights of personal and sporting achievement. By using the stadium wrap to build essential community facilities in Uganda and Brazil, we hope to deliver on this international promise and bring part of the London Olympics to some of the most marginalized youngsters in the developing world."
According to a statement released Monday afternoon by Dow, the company and its partners "created the innovative new material for the stadium wrap, conducted extensive performance and application testing and identified viable post-Games use options. … Dow Elastomer technology made it possible for the wrap to achieve a unique combination of durability, flexibility and fire performance. The total wrap system, including steel cables and fixtures, accounts for less than half of one percent of the stadium's total carbon footprint, making it a low-carbon solution for enclosing and decorating the structure."
Other green efforts during the games included the use of compostable packaging by food vendors and a special emphasis on recycling programs, including testing of a new "zero waste" management system by Coca-Cola that may serve as an example for future sporting events.
The Olympic Stadium wrap generated controversy in London last year when critics tried to stop Michigan-based Dow's involvement with the London Games because of the company's links to Union Carbide, which was accused in the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India. As The Independent of London reported in April, Dow bought Union Carbide 16 years after the 1984 accident that killed an estimated 15,000 people. Dow maintains it was not responsible for the catastrophe and that legal claims on the case in India have long been settled. "It's not our issue," George Hamilton, the executive in charge of Dow's Olympic operations, told Reuters. "We weren't there and we did not acquire any of the liabilities."
