MESA, Ariz. — The WM Phoenix Open is living up to its name.
Ahead of the first round of this weekend's tournament at the TPC Scottsdale Champions Course, Waste Not -- a Valley nonprofit dedicated to eliminating waste and hunger -- announced that it would be distributing any unused food from the event to Arizonans experiencing hunger.
This marks the seventh time that Waste Not will be teaming with the tournament, which has been recognized as the largest zero-waste sporting event in the world.
According to a release, 100% of the waste from the Open is diverted from landfills by recycling, composting, donations, and energy conversion.
“Waste Not is excited to once again be an integral part of WM’s Zero Waste initiative,” Waste Not Executive Director Hillary Bryant said in a release. “The amount of food we are able to rescue from this event enables us to feed thousands of hungry people in the Valley while also ensuring that absolutely no food makes it to the landfill.”
Any surplus food from this year's event will be donated by its caterers, M Culinary Concepts, to another organization called "Waste Not" which will distribute it across the Valley to organizations, as well as the United Food Bank, as they aim to feed the nearly one million Arizonans in need of food.
In 2022, Waste Not saved a record event of 23,600 pounds of waste from the WM Phoenix Open.
"M Culinary Concepts and Waste Not share the same commitment to nourishing our community," Brandon Maxwell, CEO of M Culinary Concepts, said in a release. "The WM Phoenix Open's zero-waste initiative has helped us forge a lasting partnership. Beyond tournament week, we work together year-round to rescue and redistribute food to Arizonans confronting food insecurity."
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