For the 10th year in a row, Waste Not, a Valley nonprofit dedicated to eliminating food waste and hunger, will be rescuing any and all excess food from the WM Phoenix Open this weekend.
The WM Phoenix Open has been recognized as the largest zero waste event in the world. Thanks to WM, 100% of the waste from the Phoenix Open is diverted from landfills through recycling, composting, donations and energy conversion.
“Waste Not is excited to once again be an integral part of WM’s Zero Waste initiative,” said Hillary Bryant, executive director of Waste Not. “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.”
Last year, Waste Not set a record for the amount of food rescued from the WM Phoenix Open at 32,752 pounds.
Through an innovative partnership with M Culinary Concepts, the caterers for the WM Phoenix Open, Waste Not will be taking responsibility for all surplus food.
"Our goal is not only to be a successful partner for the Zero Waste initiative, it's to be a successful partner to the community overall,” said Michael Stavros, vice president of business development at M Culinary Concepts. “And that's why we're so proud of the work that Waste Not does. How noble is it to actually provide resources that help Arizonans combat food insecurity? What a great idea to rescue food and let it feed people instead of landfills."
The food will be delivered across the Valley to organizations, such as St. Vincent de Paul, Native American Connections and many more, to feed the nearly one million Arizonans in need of food.
