BRATISLAVA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- On Friday afternoon, the opening face-offs will start the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia which is expected to bring half a million people to the towns of Bratislava and Kosice that are hosting the event.

With that many visitors, the organizing committee in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment is introducing new measures to make sure the environment suffers during the popular event as little as possible.

"We are asking the fans to help us make our country proud not only of our athletes but also of becoming a more environment-conscious society," said Laszlo Solymos, the Minister of Environment.

Almost 600 specialized cans for separated waste will be placed in the arenas and all over the fan zones. Slovakia is banning single-use plastic by 2021 and reducing plastic waste has become one of the main goals of the green initiative of the ice hockey championship, as well.

All the participating food stalls in the fan zones and the arenas will serve meals on biodegradable plates and bowls made of sugar cane; cutlery and cups will be made of plant-based biomass. Cups in the fan zones will be returnable as safety measures inside the stadiums allow for only single-use cups. There is also a special edition of returnable cups prepared for more than 700 journalists that are expected to cover the championship.

All the toilet paper, napkins and kitchen wipes will be made from recycled paper which will save at least 170 trees. Fans are also encouraged to use city transport for moving around instead of their cars as their stadium tickets enable them to travel for free both in Bratislava and Kosice.