Charlotte, N.C. – The Carolina Panthers can cap off a nearly perfect NFL season with a Super Bowl 50 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Feb. 7.

But, from a sustainability perspective, the Panthers are already victorious – in their own stadium parking lots! Panthers fans collected 4.45 tons of tailgate recycling during its conference title win over the Arizona Cardinals on Jan. 24. For the season, the tailgate tonnage total was a record 50.36 tons, which surpassed last season’s total of 45.35 tons.

“I now want to thank all the participants who make it happen, with a special thanks to Kerry McCray, our volunteer leader, who has led the effort, rain or shine, for seven years,” said Jake Wilson, executive director, Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful, who oversees the recycling operations at the Panthers games.

Wilson indicated that a total of 144 volunteers came to games over the course of the season with support from Bank of America. Wilson noted that Mecklenburg County’s Rosa Hernandez was a super volunteer, having attended more than 10 games as a volunteer recycler.

The Panthers continued their tremendous recycling program inside the Stadium utilizing the 40-yard roll-offs provided by Mecklenburg County. This season, 92.72 tons of recycling was collected as well as 10.69 tons of food waste.

Wilson added that the home season concluded in record fashion: 153.77 tons diverted from the landfill — 103.41 tons inside the Stadium combined with the 50.36 tailgate tons — is equal to 1,255 Cam Newtons! It’s also a 530.19 MTCDE (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) reduction or 1,373 cars being taken off the road for a month.

While the Panthers “cap off” a fantastic NFL season – remember to put caps on those plastics bottles and recycle them!