Organisers of Glastonbury have announced that sales of single-use plastic drinking bottles will be banned.
Plastic bottles won’t be available in any of the festival’s backstage, production, catering and dressing rooms either.
It follows news that a million single-use plastic bottles were bought at Glastonbury in 2017.
And this year, revellers will be encouraged to purchase re-useable bottles which can be filled up with water on site.
Co-organiser Emily Eavis said it’s paramount for the planet that we all reduce our plastic consumption.
She said she was thrilled that, over one million single-use plastic bottles will be prevented from being used at the 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,” she said.
Glastonbury Festival is banning single-use plastic bottles pic.twitter.com/EhZT9LoayL
— Dr. Kash Sirinanda (@kashthefuturist) February 28, 2019
In response to Glastonbury organisers banning single-use plastic bottles, Director of the British Plastics Federation Plastics and Flexible Packaging Group Barry Turner said they support appropriate reuse systems.
“Photographs showing the amount of litter left behind after the Glastonbury Festival highlight why plastic must be properly disposed of and recycled. But we should also remember that – surprising as it may be — shifting to other materials is often not the best thing for the environment.
“Plastic remains the most environmentally friendly packaging material in terms of CO2 emissions and provides a resource-efficient means of protecting and delivering food and drink in a safe and hygienic manner.
“In the UK, plastic beverage bottles have a recycling rate of 74%, which is higher than any other material, and the government is already looking into implementing a UK-wide deposit return scheme, which should increase this even further.”
You won’t be able to buy drinks in plastic bottles at Glastonbury this year https://t.co/CqjD0l8lH6
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) February 28, 2019
For the first time, single-use drinks bottles will not be available to purchase at @GlastoFest.
We're tripling the number of WaterAid refill kiosks on site & looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible – don't forget your reusable water bottle!https://t.co/ludWwGdhZm
— WaterAid UK ? (@WaterAidUK) February 27, 2019
