Liverpool supporters on a Champions League trip to Austria found an unexpected source of cash from LASK’s deposit system for reusable drinking cups, according to reports. Many fans reportedly spent the evening and the post-match period collecting discarded cups from the stands and concourses so they could claim the cashback.
The Austrian club has promoted a plastic-free stadium model and uses a deposit system to encourage the return of reusable containers. Under that approach, cups carry a return value, giving spectators an incentive to bring them back rather than leave them behind. The system is intended to keep containers in circulation rather than treat them as waste. The Liverpool supporters’ cup-gathering turned that incentive into a modest match-day sideline.
The reports did not say how much money the fans collected or how many cups were involved. Even so, the episode illustrates how deposit-return arrangements can shape behaviour in a stadium, especially when large crowds leave containers scattered across stands and concourses after a game.
UEFA says it is placing greater emphasis on circular-economy measures at its club competitions. Liverpool has also been publicising its own recycling record at Anfield, saying that more than one million plastic bottles have been recycled there over the past three seasons.