Liverpool supporters travelling to Austria for a Champions League fixture found an unexpected source of income in LASK's deposit system for reusable drinking cups, according to reports.
Fans reportedly spent the evening and the post-match period collecting discarded cups from the stands and concourses in order to claim the cashback attached to each returned container.
A deposit scheme built into matchday
The Austrian club has promoted a plastic-free stadium model and uses a deposit system intended to encourage spectators to bring reusable containers back rather than leave them behind. Deposit arrangements of this kind typically attach a small charge at the point of sale and refund it when the container is returned, which is what gave the abandoned cups their value.
At this fixture the practical effect was to turn the stands into a pool of redeemable containers, with supporters gathering cups that other fans had left in their seats and walkways after the match.
Circular economy on the competition agenda
UEFA says it is placing greater emphasis on circular-economy measures across its club competitions. Liverpool, for its part, has been publicising its recycling record at Anfield, stating that more than one million plastic bottles have been recycled there over the past three seasons.
The collection described in reports was a supporter-led response to LASK's deposit arrangement rather than an organised club initiative, and no environmental outcome from the trip has been claimed.