The Phoenix Suns' arena has entered into a new naming rights partnership with the material-science technology company Footprint, which is leading the team into a new era of sustainability.

Fans of the NBA team will now be been given biodegradable concession-ware in an effort to eliminate single-use plastic from the facility and also to encourage other facilities to follow in the Footprint Center's footsteps.

The switch will include,cups, plates, packaging, and utensils made from Footprint’s recyclable and compostable plant-based fiber products. The change will also include recycling and compost cans to collect and seperate food and biodegradable items.

“We’re not only having a tip-off; we’re having a tipping point of change,” said Footprint chief marketing officer Susan Koehler to CNBC. “We believe this venue will transform and show the world how to go plastic-free.”

Footprint's goal is to tackle the arena's overwhelming single-use plastic problem. At the end of games in stadiums everywhere, garbage cans are often overflowing with single-use plastic products, making them part of the problem instead of the solution.

“The sports industry is going to start seeing that there is this movement around sustainability and what it means to be a part of it — I think all stadiums are going to see it as something they have to do and there will be minimum bars of transparency of what that means,” Koehler said.

“You see how consumer attitudes are changing in relation to companies and brands regarding sustainability and they’re basically saying, ’we will reward the companies that make the change, and [those companies] should have a responsibility to care for the planet and its people.”

Basketball NBA Climate change