Festivals and plastic cups
Every year 700 festivals are organized in the Netherlands, attracting a total of 21 million visitors. Unfortunately, this also creates a lot of waste. Per person, an average of 2.33 kilograms of waste is left behind on the festival grounds. Hundreds of millions of disposable plastic cups are used at festivals, 99 percent of which are not recycled.
The crackling of plastic cups under your feet is considered deadly normal at festivals these days. Afterwards, mountains of plastic bottles, cups and crockery are left behind. Meanwhile there are many attempts to organize festivals sustainably. They try to reduce waste and to recycle it better afterwards.
Black Cross goes for logoless RPET cup
"Our new RPET-cups are like karma: it follows you around! Maybe you'll have it in your hand again next year at the Black Cross. But then the new, recycled version. Our logo-free RPET cups are collected and processed into new cups, among other things. All of our beverage partners are participating in this and are moving away from logo use, because cups with ink cannot be recycled into new cups." In addition, this cup must be thrown in the proper bin and not on the ground in order to recycle properly.
Festival de Zwarte Cross and other festivals such as Lowlands, Awakenings, Vierdaagsefeesten, Mysteryland and Loveland, among others, have joined the 'Plastic Promise' to jointly promote reuse and high quality recycling of plastic cups.
Without plastic?
But a festival without plastic bottles and cups is also possible! Some festivals, such as Glastonbury, are in the process of banning plastic bottles and cups altogether. Visitors are not refused if they bring plastic bottles, but they are strongly advised to bring a reusable drinking bottle! Many festivals are also coming up with a middle ground where disposable plastic is replaced with hard cups with a deposit system.
Despite these measures, a lot of waste still ends up on the festival grounds. This is not surprising, because a festival is a place to escape from everyday life. Therefore, it is important to make people aware of the waste around them and what they can do about it. After all, a clean and tidy festival site makes for a much nicer atmosphere!
More information on:
Black Cross and logoless RPET cup
Plastic Promise campaign 'Never Give Up On Your Cup'.
