Sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices continue to play an increasingly important role in the world of tennis. The collaboration between waterdrop® and the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals, the umbrella organisation for professional men’s tennis) aims to make this aspiration a practised reality. The goal? To support players by providing the top 150 single and 60 double players with waterdrop® Bottles and endorse tennis tournaments to operate without any single-use plastic bottles, focusing on the optimal hydration of both players and visitors alike.
Boss Open: The first ATP tournament without single-use plastic
The BOSS Open in Stuttgart (8th - 16th June 2024) gave a clear view of how this vision could play out. It was the first ATP tournament where visitors were asked to dispose of any single-use plastic bottles before entering, and encouraged to use reusable drinking bottles made of sustainable materials. Single-use plastic bottles were collected at the entrance of the venue and placed in a large waterdrop® bin. These bottles were then deposited to Plastic Bank: a Canadian organisation that targets and fights plastic pollution.
Drink More Water, even on the court!
To ensure that all visitors could tap into enough water, a number of free Hydration Stations were installed around the grounds of the Boss Open so visitors could freely fill up their own drinking bottles. All players and staff were also provided with waterdrop® bottles and Microdrinks to stay hydrated. A selection of waterdrop® Bottles were available for purchase at various touch points across the event venue, of which the All-Purpose Thermo Bottle in an exclusive BOSS Open design was especially popular.
Partnering with Imhotep Industries
When it comes to sustainability, we are always open to new innovations. As such, we were especially pleased to collaborate with the Austrian company Imhotep Industries this time round. At the BOSS Open, we were able to try out their atmospheric water generator called ‘Phantor’, which condenses water from ambient air – a genius stroke of innovation that allows clean drinking water to be produced without any waste.
A strong statement for the environment
In 2022 alone, waterdrop® saved 1.6 tons of plastic and a whopping 80,000 plastic bottles from polluting the oceans. Martin Murray, CEO and founder of waterdrop®, highlights the importance of these measures in reaching our goal: “Every year, over ten million tons of waste end up in oceans and plastic bottles make up a huge proportion of this. Our goal here is to reduce the use of plastic and simultaneously, motivate people to drink more water.”
Daniele Sanò, Chief Business Officer of the ATP Tour added: “The collaboration with waterdrop® shows how important it is to find partners with a shared vision to make tennis more sustainable and this partnership is a big step in the right direction.”
The best is yet to come!
Our collaboration with the ATP serves as an important example of how sustainability and sport can go hand in hand. By eliminating single-use plastic and promoting environmentally-friendly solutions to drink more water, the BOSS Open has allowed us to set a strong example for the future of tennis.
This just goes to show: it's entirely possible to make major sporting events sustainable, while taking the needs of participants and spectators into account – stay tuned, the best is yet to be!
