A&M football fans by the tens of thousands descended upon Kyle Field this weekend and left behind tons of trash. Literally. After any given home game, fans leave behind between 20 and 30 tons of trash.
Cleaning up the mess left behind is a monumental effort. Luckily, the Aggies get a rock-solid assist from local company Brazos Valley Recycling.
The morning after each A&M home game, Brazos Valley Recycling partners with student organizations to clean up the trash scattered throughout Kyle Field, which is widely considered the largest stadium in the state, with an official seating capacity of over 102,000.
“We might be the guys that are managing this but the people that really make it happen are the folks behind us, the students, the student organizations,” Brazos Valley Recycling CEO Mike Brannon said. “Like Coach Fisher has a team, this is our team and we depend on them every week whenever there is a game.”
Depending on volunteer turnout, anywhere from 50 to 150 students representing an array of student organizations and nonprofits join about 150 Brazos Valley Recycling employees to clean Kyle Field. The students’ service doesn't go unrewarded.
Brazos Valley Recycling donates most of the money Texas A&M University pays it to clean the stadium back to the organizations that participate in the morning cleanup.
“We don’t make hardly any money out of it and typically we donate most of it,” Mike Brannon said. “It’s mostly the honor of doing it. And, helping the student organizations and nonprofits out.”
The numbers varies widely but, on average, the company recycles around 70 percent of the waste it collects after each home game, according to Brazos Valley Recycling President Blake Brannon.
“It’s a huge honor to do this,” Blake Brannon said. “It’s not a glamorous business being the trash guys but it’s our little part that we are able to help and do and we are very very proud to be a part of it.”