FC Barcelona creates 'Guide to a Green Office' to promote sustainability and reduce waste and energy consumption

Sustainability is one of the core areas of the 2025 Strategic Plan, which is applicable to different areas of the club, including the economic, governance, sports, social and environmental. In accordance with this plan, FC Barcelona has been working for months to promote sustainable development in all of its areas of action, with a very special focus on the Espai Barça and on the restructuring of the future Spotify Camp Nou, where sustainability is already a key part of the project.

At the beginning of last season, the Sustainability Area was created, which has worked on the definition and implementation of a strategic plan, aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which includes proposals that must be implemented at all levels of the club to reduce emissions. and waste, increase energy efficiency and encourage the use of renewable energies.

These have included the creation of the Guide for a Green Office, with the aim of promoting a change in habits towards more responsible, efficient and environmentally friendly consumption of resources in everyday office work. The intention is for this guide to help staff to make the right choices with regard to resources to reduce the carbon footprint generated by the club and its people.

FC Barcelona is such a large club that it generates significant consumption of materials and energy, hence it is very important to control its use of perishable and consumer goods in all of its activities.

The Guide to a Green Office offers tools to reduce, reuse and recycle as many materials as possible, to minimise waste and open up the possibility of circular economy projects, with the financial savings that this entails, and also to limit possible damages to health. It also suggests actions for the reduction or responsible use of such materials as paper, plastic, stationery and batteries, and addresses other issues like lighting, mobility, air quality, cleanliness, food and humidity.

The ultimate goal of such commitment and awareness is for the approximately 1,700 hours a year that the average club employee spends in their workplace to be as environmentally efficient as possible and thereby reduce energy and material consumption.

General sustainability criteria

FC Barcelona has defined and agreed on certain basic criteria to move towards greater sustainability. These are the optimisation and saving of resources, through efficiency in the use of materials, energy and water, and careful and responsible use of resources, to thereby achieve a reduction in waste and the reuse of materials whenever possible.

To facilitate the process, the club has various types of certifications that guarantee that materials, processes and services have passed the relevant controls. These green labels include Blauer Engel, Ecolabel, EMAS, FSC, PFEC, Environmental Quality Guarantee, Energy Star, Green Range and the Green Star System.

In addition to its new guide, the club has already incorporated certain measures, including the use of recycled and non-chlorinated paper, certified by Blauer Engel, which compared to conventional paper makes less use of resources during the manufacturing process (-100% wood, -72% energy, -83% water and -53% CO2), the reduction of single-use bottles by providing all workers with a reusable aluminum thermos, the inclusion of sustainability measures in every type of tender, the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to promote renewable energy and self-consumption, and the installation of electric charging points for sustainable mobility.

Statement by Jordi Porbabella, head of the Sustainability Area

“The publication of the Guide to a Green Office is a step forward in Barça's commitment to sustainability. It increases awareness among the club's workers, who are all eager to contribute to a more sustainable society, based on convictions, needs and responsibilities towards the planet and humans”.

Click here to make the Guide available to any organisation, entity or company that wants to use it