The Indianapolis 500 is known for speed, precision, and scale. Approximately 350,000 fans gather at Indianapolis Motor Speedway each year, making it the largest single-day sporting event in the world. Behind the scenes, that scale brings a less visible challenge: what happens to the massive volume of bottles and cans once the race ends.
âHosting an event of this size comes with a responsibility to manage operations as efficiently, sustainably, and responsibly as possible,â said Logan Waddle, Penske Entertainment Sustainability Program Leader. âImproving how we manage waste during the event is an important and difference-making step.â
Circular Solutions, the market pioneer in recycling verification, will deploy its Circular OS™ platform at the 2026 Indianapolis 500 to independently verify and track landfill diversion for beverage containers, including PET bottles and aluminum cans. The system will operate across race activities, creating a clear, auditable record of how materials are managed after collection.
âEvents of this scale generate a massive volume of materials in a short period of time,â said JT Marburger, CEO of Circular Solutions. âThe opportunity is to turn that activity into something measurable and actionable. By bringing independent verification into the process, weâre helping event operators generate clear, usable data on where materials are going, how much is being diverted from landfill, and where improvements can be made over time. From the track to the field and beyond, thatâs how weâre helping large-scale events move toward more transparent and accountable recycling systems.â
Alongside partners and Republic Services, a leader in environmental services providing material collection and processing, IMS will verify the materials collected are recycled and will provide a total landfill diversion rate.
Beyond Indianapolis, Circular Solutions is delivering traceable and verified beverage recycling solutions at upcoming large-scale, multi-venue global sporting events via its proprietary Circular OS platform. Unlike traditional reporting methods that rely on estimates, Circular Solutionsâ platform is designed to produce independently validated data that can support event reporting, sponsor transparency, and broader ESG disclosures.
âAs the official soft beverage and water sponsor of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we are focused on supporting beverage container recovery and engaging fans in the process,â said Todd Marty, Senior Director of Sustainability, Coca-Cola Consolidated. âEfforts like this help strengthen beverage container recovery and contribute to more reliable outcomes.â
âRepublic Services is committed to supporting a circular economy and helping partners like IMS achieve their recycling goals,â said Ben Pearson, Republic Services General Manager. âWhen Indy 500 fans recycle their bottles and cans, they can be confident those materials are collected, processed and recycled into new beverage containers. Weâre proud to work with Circular Solutions to help provide that level of verification.â
This marks the first deployment of Circular Solutionsâ verification platform at the Indianapolis 500 and introduces a new level of accountability for large-scale event waste management, with additional deployments underway across major events, including the Special Olympics in Minnesota, June 20-26.