Reading, Wireless and Download among latest UK festivals to go plastic-free
Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, has vowed to eliminate single-use plastics at its venues and festivals by 2021.
This means that you’ll be seeing a lot less plastic at UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds, Wireless, Latitude and Download.
The move is part of an initiative by Live Nation to achieve zero waste at its clubs and concert halls by 2030.
As such, the pledge will also come into force at the company’s portfolio of UK venues, including London’s Brixton Academy and Glasgow’s King Tut’s.
“Hosting over 35,000 concerts and festivals each year, Live Nation has the opportunity and responsibility to provide our artists and fans with a live music experience that protects our planet,” said Michael Rapino, president of Live Nation Entertainment.
“The adverse effects of climate change are undeniable, and we want to use our place on the world stage to be part of the solution.
“Together our concerts, venues, festivals and offices around the world are setting new sustainability standards for live events.”
Live Nation is the latest promoter to commit to eliminating plastic in a bid to address the climate emergency.
In February, Glastonbury – the UK’s biggest festival – announced it is putting an end to single-use plastic bottles being sold at the event for the first time.
In a statement, festival organiser Emily Eavis said: “It’s paramount for our planet that we all reduce our plastic consumption, and I’m thrilled that, together, we’ll be able to prevent over a million single-use plastic bottles from being used at this year’s festival.
“I really hope that everyone – from ticket-holder to headliner – will leave Worthy Farm this year knowing that even small, everyday changes can make a real difference. It’s now or never.”
Earlier this month, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) – a membership body for 60 independent festivals including Shambala and Boomtown – called on people to take their tents home with them and stop using single-use plastics.
The AIF aims to reduce the estimated 250,000 tents which are left at music festivals across the UK every year – most of which aren’t collected by charities and can’t be recycled, meaning they end up in landfill.
It’s also calling on retailers to stop marketing the tents as single use, by promoting them specifically for festival use and selling them at lower prices.
