Cycling’s Grand Tour goes circular: refillable water system spares 12,000kg of plastic waste
- Maya García
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
In the world of professional cycling, where tradition and spectacle often overshadow logistics, La Vuelta 2025 has quietly become a laboratory for sustainable practice. For the fifth consecutive year, Aquaservice has served as the official water supplier, replacing single-use bottles with refillable dispensers. What may sound like a modest shift in supply has, over time, reshaped the environmental profile of Spain’s most prestigious race.
Since the partnership began in 2021, more than 300,000 litres of water have been delivered through this model, avoiding over 12,000 kilograms of single-use plastic, the equivalent of around 600,000 half-litre bottles. In this year’s edition alone, which marks the race’s 90th anniversary, Aquaservice will supply some 64,000 litres to riders, organisers, media and guests, sparing over 2,000 kilograms of plastic, or 128,000 bottles.
Circular economy in motion
La Vuelta has become the first of cycling’s Grand Tours to eliminate disposable plastic bottles for hydration. The achievement is not a matter of optics but of infrastructure. Aquaservice’s model relies on a circular supply chain: refillable dispensers replace individual bottles, and every component is designed for reuse and minimal waste. This aligns closely with the zero-waste certification the company holds, which guarantees that discarded material is either repurposed or recycled rather than consigned to landfill.
Logistics, often overlooked, is central to the model’s credibility. Aquaservice has introduced Spain’s first 100% electric distribution truck for urban routes and applies Big Data analytics to optimise deliveries. Such measures reduce carbon intensity across the supply chain, supporting the company’s status as carbon neutral. In a sport where fleet vehicles, helicopters and support convoys remain unavoidable, these efforts help counterbalance the race’s environmental footprint.
Beyond cycling, towards culture and community
The La Vuelta project is not an isolated exercise. Through its “Sustainable Sports and Culture” programme, Aquaservice has extended the same approach to events such as the Goya Awards, the Feroz Awards and federations including Spain’s national handball organisation. These initiatives suggest a transferable model: sustainability in elite sport can have cultural reach, reinforcing awareness among audiences far beyond cycling enthusiasts.
A blueprint for sustainable sport
The significance of this shift extends beyond the peloton. Mass participation events, from marathons to football tournaments, are grappling with the challenge of reducing waste while sustaining operations at scale. La Vuelta demonstrates that circular economy principles can be embedded without disrupting performance or logistics.
With global sport under increasing scrutiny for its environmental footprint, this year’s race offers a rare example of progress that is measurable, replicable and tied to broader sustainability goals. The avoidance of more than 600,000 bottles in just five years is not a marginal gain but a structural change—one that resonates with the spirit of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those addressing responsible consumption.
As the peloton sets out from Turin and rides towards Madrid across three weeks and 21 stages, La Vuelta 2025 carries more than athletic tradition. It carries proof that the thirst for spectacle can be met with a thirst for sustainability.
For further reading on sustainable practices in global sport, see European Cycling Union initiatives and International Olympic Committee sustainability framework.
More information and image credits: https://www.aquaservice.com/en
