Campaign Overview

In 2025, WWF-Ecuador partnered with the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) to launch a long-term initiative aimed at tackling single-use plastic pollution in football.

This landmark initiative was announced during Earth Hour 2025 campaign, with the technical support of the National Plastic Action Platform (NPAP-Ecuador), as it aligns with the strategic priorities outlined in its roadmap to reduce plastic pollution and promote a circular economy.

Centered around the theme “We play the match of our lives”, the campaign aims to raise awareness to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics and encourage circular waste management inside and outside stadiums.

Kicking off the partnership, a plastic waste count was conducted during the Ecuador vs. Venezuela match at Estadio Rodrigo Paz stadium, just before Earth Hour in 2025. This data collection established information about plastic consumption, laying the groundwork for a joint action plan to progressively reduce single-use plastic at FEF-organized events.

The second phase took place in the match against Brazil in Monumental stadium, where focus was placed on understanding the dynamics and people’s behavior around waste generation and disposals, through the creation of 4 high-impact, pedagogical trash bins. Learn more about the trash bins here.

The campaign’s communications strategy featured impactful activations in both stadiums: a powerful hero video projected at the stadiums’ screen, a symbolic act where a young girl entered the pitch carrying a ball made from 67 plastic bags, the panda logo featuring in highly commercial and visible spaces at the match and pre / post-match press interviews and conferences. This was complemented with content on WWF and FEF’s social media platforms, along with training around plastic pollution with sports journalists, reinforcing the message that reducing plastic is a team effort in and outside football stadiums.