WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond 2015 officials marked an historic occasion Earth Day, April 22, when they announced that the 2015 UCI Road World Cycling Championships would be the first Road World Cycling event to receive the official UCI reCycling eco-label.

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) created the reCycling program to help its members organize more environmentally responsible cycling events by addressing practices in transportation, energy and water conservation, recycling and waste management, accommodations, catering, and supplies. UCI awards the eco-label to cycling events that have submitted an Environmental Management Plan documenting intended actions that meet the reCycling criteria.

During the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, attendees will notice mobile water-filling stations provided by the City’s Department of Public Utilities in the spectator zones to reduce plastic use by making it easy to refill bottles. A Green Team of volunteers will also be on hand to carry out the eco-label initiatives.

“The City is strategically leveraging the World Championships to further community-wide initiatives that are essential for a vibrant and resilient Richmond," said Mayor Jones. "These initiatives will continue to benefit our residents long after the nine days of racing are over and the visitors have returned home.”

Recycling and composting bins

During the Earth Day event, Mayor Jones issued a progress report on the City’s RVAgreen sustainability plan, "Moving Sustainability Forward." The progress report tracks headway in achieving the 55 sustainability initiatives established in in the plan such as green jobs, healthy food access, community energy use, recycling, open space access, housing cost burden, and alternative modes of transportation. It sets goals to reduce government and community greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, equal to a 1.8 percent reduction every year.

As a result of work related to the 2015 Championships, the City of Richmond and collaborators are planning to enhance sustainability for future events. In addition to the mobile water filling stations and Green Team of volunteers, improvements include recycling and composting stations; and a green event toolkit to provide free information and resources to help organizers make their events more sustainable.

About City of Richmond RVAgreen

RVAgreen is the City’s sustainability program. It includes the RVAgreen Sustainability Plan released in 2012 to further the City’s sustainability goals: improve the quality of life for residents, create a healthy environment and enhance economic opportunity in the city of Richmond. For more information about RVAgreen including a copy of the RVAgreen Progress Report called Moving Sustainability Forward visit www.richmondgov.com/sustainability

About Richmond 2015, Inc.

Richmond 2015, Inc., is the independent nonprofit corporation responsible for the organization, management and promotion of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships. 

Partners of Richmond 2015 include Altria, Anthem, CarMax, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, Davenport and Company, Dominion, Genworth, Hourigan Construction, Kings Dominion, Lansing Building Products, MARTIN’S Food Markets, MWV, McGuireWoods, Norfolk Southern, PIASCIK, The Community Foundation, TowneBank, VCU Medical Center and Williams Mullen.

In addition to its corporate partners, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the City of Richmond, Hanover County and Henrico County are all key partners of Richmond 2015. For more information about Richmond 2015 visit http://richmond2015.com. 

About the 2015 UCI Road World Championships

The 2015 UCI Road World Championships, cycling’s pinnacle event, will be held Sept. 19-27, 2015 in Richmond, Va., and is expected to attract 450,000 onsite spectators over the course of the nine-day event as well as a worldwide television audience. More than 1,000 cyclists – Elite Men and Women, Under-23 Men, and Junior Men and Women – from more than 75 countries will compete in three categories: the traditional Road Race, Individual Time Trial and Team Time Trial. The event, which is being held in the United States for the first time since 1986, culminates with the traditional road races on Sept. 26 (women) and Sept. 27 (men).