National Links Trust Awarded 3-Year Grant From the National Park Foundation

National Links Trust to partner with TerraCycle on the design and implementation of single-use plastic and golf-specific waste recycling program. 

Washington, DC, August 29, 2024 – National Links Trust (NLT), a non-profit dedicated to positively impacting the Washington, DC community and changing lives through affordable and accessible municipal golf, announced today the awarding of a 3-year, $128,000 grant to identify, reduce, recycle, and eliminate single-use plastics and golf-specific waste from its operations at Langston Golf Course. This work will help the National Park Service (NPS) reach the goals outlined in its 2023 Green Parks Plan and the 2023 Plastics Reduction and Elimination Plan. NLT’s goal with this grant opportunity is to foster innovative approaches to creating circular systems and reducing, recycling, and eliminating plastics from golf course operations that will lead to enduring change in the golf industry, national parks, and beyond.

The project will be implemented at Langston Golf Course, located in northeast Washington, D.C., along the borders of the National Arboretum, Anacostia River, and Kingman Lake. Langston Golf Course, which opened in 1939, is named after John Mercer Langston, the country’s first African-American Congressional Representative. The course was built to serve the African-American golf community in Washington, DC because the other public courses in the city were segregated at the time of its opening. Since 1939, Langston Golf Course has played a pivotal role in the expansion of and access to the game and industry of golf for the African-American community in Washington, DC.

Through its partnership with TerraCycle, National Links Trust will design and implement a three-year program that will take a holistic approach to diverting traditionally unrecyclable materials from landfills, including golf-specific sports equipment. The program will also greatly improve reporting data on golf course solid waste management by utilizing TerraCycle’s first-in-class transparent supply chain to accurately track the volumes being collected, processed, and recycled. The traditionally unrecyclable materials include:

  • Single-use plastics used in daily concession operations like utensils, food and beverage packaging, water and soda bottles, and poly bags;

  • Golf-specific waste like broken and cracked golf balls, plastic tees and other plastic golf accessories, used or unwanted golf apparel made from synthetic materials, old rubber grips, and old steel and graphite golf club shafts;

  • Golf-specific bulk waste items like old driving range mats (made of rubber and synthetic turf), netting, instructional equipment, and more.

This project will address source reduction and circularity by:

  1. exploring innovative ways to recycle or reuse golf-specific plastics by sending collected waste to innovative plastic recyclers,

  2. developing a comprehensive procurement plan that complies with federal sustainable acquisition regulations, demonstrates annual improvement in sustainable contract actions, and strengthens procurement requirements for all vendor, construction, and service contracts at Langston Golf Course,

  3. establishing education and communications campaigns that encourage park visitors to participate in the program in the park and at home in their personal lives, and

  4. creating industry-wide best management practices for golf facilities to improve their understanding of source reduction and circular economy strategies.

“We are thrilled the National Park Foundation has granted the National Links Trust the opportunity to pursue innovative approaches to creating circular economies with hard-to-recycle golf commodities like golf balls and plastic golf tees,” says NLT Director of Sustainability, Andrew Szunyog. “Removing these synthetic materials from the natural environments on the golf course will help us preserve the precious ecosystems surrounding Langston Golf Course while using this project as a case study to inform and guide the golf industry on ways it can become better stewards of the land by lowering the environmental impacts that plastic waste has on our communities and ecosystems at large.” 

"We’re excited about this new project at Langston Golf Course. This endeavor not only supports the 2023 NPS Green Parks Plan but also our dedication to reducing single-use plastics and safeguarding the vibrant ecosystems of our historic sites. Langston Golf Course is a treasured landmark that has for generations promoted golf within the African American community and beyond. Together, we celebrate this rich legacy while championing a sustainable future," said National Capital Parks – East Superintendent Tara Morrison.

More About National Links Trust

Founded in 2019, National Links Trust (NLT) is a non-profit dedicated to positively impacting the Washington, DC community and changing lives through affordable and accessible municipal golf. NLT has a 50-year lease with the National Park Service to operate and rehabilitate Washington, DC’s three public golf courses - Rock Creek Park Golf, Langston Golf Course, and East Potomac Golf Links - that are valuable historic and cultural assets. NLT leads community-focused programs like the Jack Vardaman Workforce Development Program – an internship and caddie program for local youth and adolescents – and is working towards undertaking a series of renovation projects dubbed ‘The Nation’s Capital Project’. Learn more at NationalLinksTrust.org.

More About TerraCycle

TerraCycle is an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse. Across 21 countries, TerraCycle is on a mission to rethink waste and develop practical solutions for today’s complex waste challenges. The company engages an expansive multi-stakeholder community across a wide range of accessible programs, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and even individuals. To learn more about TerraCycle and our efforts to move the world from a linear economy to a circular one, please visit The TerraCycle Difference.