The IFF’s sustainability programme Stick with it! aims to recycle as much floorball equipment as possible. This initiative has also been added as one of the International Olympic Committee’s sustainability case studies. 

The idea for this initiative originally derived from the local organisers of the World Floorball Championships (WFC) 2020 in Helsinki and the Equal Opportunity campaign organised in cooperation with the Finnish Floorball Federation, the WFC 2020 home tournament partner network and Hope ry.

– The WFC 2020 Equal Opportunity campaign was a successful campaign helping children living in poverty in Finland by collecting hobby equipment to them. We then realised at the IFF that this initiative could become even bigger and more international. After discussing the project with our partner UNIHOC, who were very supportive, the Stick with it! sustainability programme was developed, IFF Secretary General John Liljelund, informs.

Stick with it! Programme description

For 15 years, the IFF has run a sports development programme, shipping 30,000 brand new floorball sticks to countries most in need of sports equipment. In spring 2019, while exploring potential improvements to the programme, the IFF realised that its events led to the opportunity to collect large quantities of sports equipment which could actually be reused or recycled – inspiring the launch of the new Stick with It! initiative.

In collaboration with equipment manufacturer UNIHOC, Stick with It! will focus on the collection and reuse of balls, stick blades and drinking bottles, as well as the recycling of damaged equipment. The Men’s World Floorball Championships (WFC) 2020 in Helsinki, Finland, will be the first event to implement the initiative, with the IFF estimating that 4,000 sticks could be collected and either repaired and reused or recycled.

The IFF calculates that the annual cost of the initiative will be EUR 20,000, compared to EUR 80,000 for purchasing the same quantity of new equipment. Moreover, the initiative will not only save money but will also save the resources required to manufacture new equipment, such as water and energy, thus reducing the IFF’s carbon footprint. In addition, by distributing sports equipment to disadvantaged communities, the IFF hopes to encourage social development through sport. During the latter half of 2019, the IFF has focused on building a campaign around the Stick with It! initiative and will use the Men’s WFC 2020 to refine and adapt the programme for its entire 2020 event calendar.

– Our initiative is a win-win situation: our equipment sponsor wants it; we can both save resources; our developing markets will receive equipment; and the floorball community can proudly say that they take part in sustainability initiatives, IFF Secretary General John Liljelund, comments.

Objectives

By creating a new recycling initiative, the IFF aims to:

• Save resources by recycling sports equipment.
• Support social development projects through the donation of sports equipment.
• Promote floorball worldwide.
• Raise awareness about the importance of reuse.
• Inspire partners and other sporting organisations to take similar action

NOC and IF Sustainability case  studies

The world faces significant challenges across a wide spectrum of economic, social and environmental matters. The Olympic Movement has both an opportunity and a duty to actively contribute to the global sustainability debate in line with its vision of “Building a better world through sport”. With this in mind, and in response to Olympic Agenda 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched the International Federation (IF) Sustainability Project in 2016 to obtain an overview of IFs’ sustainability initiatives – identifying common topics, challenges and good practices while also sharing information among the IFs.

One outcome of the project was a series of case studies illustrating how IFs are actively contributing towards a more sustainable world. As part of the IOC’s objective to “profile the role of the Olympic Movement in sustainability through the aggregation of information and collective reporting”, it was agreed that the identification and sharing of information contributes to the holistic integration of sustainability and should be continued. These case studies, which now also showcase National Olympic Committees’ (NOCs) best practices, form part of a strategic support system given to the Olympic Movement through the IOC Sustainability Strategy.

Each case study is aligned with one or more of the IOC’s five sustainability focus areas: infrastructure & natural sites; sourcing & resource management; mobility; workforce; and climate. They are also aligned with one or more of the United Nations’ (UN) framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a common framework for organisations to explain how they plan to contribute to sustainable development and tackle the key global sustainability challenges. This framework is pivotal for the Olympic Movement – in September 2015, the UN General Assembly confirmed the important role that sport can play in supporting the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs.

Read more from the IOC website!