Festivals ditching single-use glasses

Almost all major festivals in the Netherlands will soon stop using disposable glasses and cups. Instead, festival-goers will have to hand in their used cups for a new drink. At the end of the festival, the cups are either washed and reused or taken to a recycling plant, NOS reports.

Mojo, the largest festival organizer in the Netherlands, did four experiments with the system this year, the latest at Woo Hah! in Hilvarenbeek. "It means extra work for us," Ruud Lemmen of Woo Hah! said to NOS. "The cups are collected, end up in a press container, and are then picked up. That is extra work, but you save on cleaning. It makes a huge difference if there are not 100,000 cups on the floor."

Some visitors complained, but "it is a small effort for a better world," Lemmen responds.

The system works with a recycling token. Attendees receive a token at the start of the festival, which they hand in for their first glass. If the attendee doesn't want to drink for a while, they can exchange their current glass for a token. At some events, visitors have to pay for the token and can get their money back at the end if they hand in a glass or a token.

Laura van de Groot of Green Events has been trying for years to get festivals to stop using disposable cups. "The most important thing is to give people a reason to return the cup. Past trials have shown that people don't do it on their own." She thinks all festivals will soon make the switch. "A festival site full of plastic waste will soon be a thing of the past." It will also soon become an obligation under the law. "With this festival summer, there are only two seasons left to practice, and after that, you have to reuse or recycle at a festival."