Underscoring Waste Management’s (NYSE: WM) commitment to educating and engaging the community about sustainability, the company today announced the launch of its “Greenest Show” promotional campaign in advance of the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMPO). The “Greenest Show” campaign represents all that Waste Management, in partnership with the PGA TOUR and tournament host The Thunderbirds, is doing to ensure the tournament known as the “Greatest Show on Grass” is the “Greenest Show on Grass.”

The “Greenest Show” social media campaign will source user-generated content by encouraging the community, fans, sponsors and followers to share their daily green practices both on and off the course using the hashtag #greenestshow across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram leading up to and during tournament week, January 27 – February 2, 2014. Additionally, “Greenest Show” messaging will be incorporated into traditional advertising, marketing and on-course branding and signage surrounding the 2014 WMPO.

“The Greenest Show campaign provides a new creative outlet for fans to share their support for sustainability and sports, and allows Waste Management to engage with them in a more meaningful way,” said David Aardsma, Waste Management chief sales and marketing officer. “The campaign and social hub, designed to encourage storytelling and spark conversations, represents all that Waste Management is doing to dramatically increase environmental and social responsibility as title sponsor of the WMPO.”

Dedicated to maintaining the WMPO as the greenest stop on the PGA TOUR, Waste Management will continue to showcase many of its sustainability initiatives throughout the tournament, including the Zero Waste Challenge which returns to the 2014 WMPO for a third year. The Zero Waste Challenge aims to control materials brought into the event and educate vendors and patrons about proper disposal of materials, so that zero waste is sent to landfills. In 2014, Waste Management’s goal is to divert 100 percent of tournament waste away from landfills and into recycling and composting facilities.

To make sure that everything used at the WMPO can be recycled or composted at the end of the tournament, Waste Management is focused on educating WMPO vendors, sponsors and exhibitors about the right materials to use and reuse. Waste Management instituted Guidelines for Acceptable Materials and a Zero Waste Challenge Participation Agreement which requires the use of reusable, recyclable and compostable materials in an effort to “recycle right.”

As part of the Zero Waste Challenge, there will be no trash receptacles on the course. Instead, Waste Management offers two alternatives to disposal: recycling bins and compost bins, which will help to recover nearly all tournament materials. In addition to nearly 6,000 recycling and compost bins, Waste Management will introduce Zero Waste Stations in 2014. Three 40-yard dumpsters have been transformed to become interactive Zero Waste Stations that will be focal points of the tournament’s recycling and composting mission. Each station will be staffed with knowledgeable volunteers to answer questions, provide assistance and help fans make proper disposal of used materials (i.e. cans, plates) a reality. Strategically placed in high-traffic areas, these brightly colored units also have a high-tech side with large flat-screen display panels showcasing “green” videos and live “#greenestshow” Twitter feeds. In addition, they are designed to provide a “photo opp” staging area for fans to take and upload photos of their own.

Additional sustainability initiatives to be showcased along the course in 2014 include:

  • Waste Management works closely with WMPO vendors to monitor their use of water throughout the week in order to decrease overall consumption.
  • Waste Management works closely with signage vendors and manufacturers to provide information about the tournament’s Acceptable Materials Guidance including signage guidelines for vendors and sponsors, with an emphasis on sustainable materials and reuse. Eighty-eight percent of tournament signage from the 2013 tournament was stored for reuse during the 2014 tournament.
  • Use of greywater, or wastewater generated from the concessionaire’s kitchens, will be recycled for use in portable toilets. Each year this effort conserves thousands of gallons of fresh water.
  • Compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks will transport the materials that are collected during the tournament. The fuel in these trucks burns cleaner than a standard diesel truck and therefore will reduce fleet emissions associated with transportation.
  • Sixty Waste Management solar-powered compactors will be located along the course so patrons can dispose of their compost and recycling materials more efficiently. These machines hold five times the amount of materials as a traditional non-compacting bin, which reduces the number of trips, and therefore, the natural resources needed to service them.
  • Waste Management’s hospitality tent will be powered by electricity generated from a portable solar power unit.
  • In an effort to turn waste into a resource, Waste Management will bring all scrap wood used at the tournament to the Maricopa Organics Recycling Facility developed in collaboration with Garick, where it will be processed into compost and used as a soil amendment, a sustainable key ingredient to soil.
  • All of the tournament’s compost and food waste – referred to as organics – will be sent to the Maricopa Organics Recycling Facility in collaboration with Garick. These materials will be processed into compost.
  • All unused food will be donated to Waste Not, an Arizona non-profit that collects excess perishable food – or food that would otherwise be thrown away – from local restaurants, resorts, grocers, etc. and delivers the food to facilities that feed the hungry in the local community. In 2013, more than 16,000 pounds of unused food from the tournament was donated to Waste Not.

The 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open reached its goal of diverting 100 percent of tournament waste away from landfills, as part of the Zero Waste Challenge. The 2013 tournament also earned Gold Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport for its socially and environmentally responsible efforts in the planning and execution of the tournament. The Gold Certification, good through the 2014 WMPO, means Waste Management will continue to work with the Council to develop and continuously evolve innovative programs to dramatically increase environmental and social responsibility at the event. As the first PGA TOUR tournament to receive such a designation, Waste Management aims to set the standard by which all tournaments are measured.

In addition, the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open earned UL Environment’s landfill waste diversion, or “Zero Waste to Landfill” claim validation. UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories) provides companies with third-party verification of environmental claims. Zero Waste to Landfill is the highest designation of landfill diversion rate classified by UL Environment.