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Rogers Cup organizers at Tennis Canada have set a lofty, green goal.

“We really want to have zero-waste for the event,” said Blandine Betton, sustainable development adviser to the Rogers Cup.

The tournament creates 70 tons of waste each year. Tennis Canada wants to do their best to make sure recycling and composting are the norm, and almost nothing ends up in a garbage can.

“We want to make things easier for people. That’s why we want to have only compostable items on the site for example,” Betton told Global News.

In the bathrooms, there are only compostable paper towels. In the dining rooms, there are only compostable plates. There are Recyc-Quebec bins with space for compost, recycling and garbage, every few feet throughout the site.

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There are even agents waiting next to the bins to advise people what to throw where.

Bags of waste are then examined by workers just off-site, and re-sorted by hand.

The flowers on the site are perennials and will be reused elsewhere after the tournament.

Organizers also made a deal with the STM so tickets give patrons free metro passage to and from the grounds.

The hope is that other Montreal festivals follow the example and also try to go zero-waste.

“Imagine if you can make that on every festival in Montreal? How many things you can save directly from the landfill?” said Dany Michaud, president of Recyc-Quebec.

He says Osheaga, Ile-Sonique and F1 have all taken measures to increase composting and recycling.

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