The University of Tennessee Knoxville and Eastman Chemical Company are collaborating to turn the trash at Neland Stadium into treasure. 

Neyland Stadium will recycle plastic cups and plastic bottles after every home game, but in the next two weeks, Eastman will use a new technology to upgrade discarded trash into durable, reusable water bottles to commemorate The legendary history of Neilan.

According to data from UT's Sustainability Office, the 2019 Tennessee Games produced an average of more than 23 tons of landfills. One way for universities to transfer waste is to recycle bottles and cans, but not everything that enters the recycling bin can be recycled. 

"Today, there is actually too little plastic waste recycled-either because of lack of collection or because traditional methods simply cannot be recycled. Most plastic ends up in landfills, or worse, the environment," Scott Ballard, president of MAN Plastics, said in a press release. 

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This is where the new technology comes in.

"Fans will give us plastic on game day, and we will return reusable bottles-this proves a way we can work together to solve plastic waste," Ballard said.

Molecular recycling breaks down waste to the molecular level. This is different from traditional mechanical recycling, which cleans, shreds and melts existing plastics.

Mechanical recycling is an effective and environmentally friendly process, but it also has its limitations. Plastics must be cleaned, the quality of plastics will decrease every time they are recycled, and the products will eventually be landfilled.

Molecular recycling uses plastic, otherwise it may become garbage. It upgrades the plastic back to its original quality. 

Eastman and UT will collect and recycle plastic cups and bottles in the games against the University of South Alabama this Saturday and Vanderbilt University next week. 

Eastman will then use this recyclable material to make plastic CamelBak water bottles from its Tritan Renew plastic. The bottle will use a graphic commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Neran Stadium. Fans can register to get a bottle in two games.

"I'm really excited about molecular recycling technology," Jay Price, UT's sustainability manager, said in a phone interview with Knox News. "I think it will really push recycling in a whole new direction, and the fact that it is so close to the University of Tennessee is also very exciting."

UT has been working with Eastman on its Zero Waste Game Day program, which aims to exclude at least 90% of household game waste from landfills through recycling, composting and food donations.

According to the UT Sustainability Office, more than 100 students have voluntarily participated in the program in the past. These "garbage fighters" collect recyclable materials and monitor the trash bins outside the stadium to help people sort the garbage correctly.

Learn more about UT’s Zero Waste Game Day program on sustainability.utk.edu.