Stakeholders from across the live events industry, including Festival Republic, Vision: 2025 and Julie’s Bicycle have collaborated to publish a report that highlights the challenges and opportunities for sustainable waste management at UK greenfield festivals.

Vision: 2025 said the report was created in response to common challenges identified by outdoor event organisers around waste management and reduction. It was created by Resource Futures, a national waste and resources consultancy, having been commissioned by Vision: 2025 and Julie’s Bicycle.

The report highlights key areas organisers can focus on to reduce environmental impact:

• Separating food waste so that it can be composted.
• Eliminating waste and maximising reuse, banning problem materials, encouraging reuse and having deposit return schemes.
• Create a Materials Policy to manage waste reduction to increase recycling and reuse.
• Waste data capture and reporting and baseline setting.
• Strategic placement and emptying of bins.
• Audience communications to positively impact behaviour onsite.

The report, which can be downloaded here, was funded by the Dixon Foundation, and supported by an industry working group of sustainability experts and industry stakeholders comprising Julie’s Bicycle, Manchester City Council, Sustainable Sidekicks, Native Events, National Eisteddfod of Wales and Festival Republic/Live Nation.

Julies Bicycle’s climate change specialist Richard Phillips said the report will be a valuable tool for event managers to reduce waste and environmental impacts: “There are some useful quick wins to improve efficiency and clear next steps for collective action to improve industry understanding and move toward more consistent approaches across the industry for everyone’s benefit.”

Vision: 2025 is now running a citizen-science call-out to collect waste data from the outdoor events industry, to better understand the waste landscape at UK festivals in 2023. Organisers can take part by registering their interest here.

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