The road to circularity: EPISODE 1 – RESOURCES

At DGTL, we have made the transition from “Waste as a problem”, to “Resources as a solution”. This enabled us to achieve a 100% separation rate. All resources are collected separately by using Recycle Stations and a well-thought-out bin plan for backstage areas. In addition, adjustments have been made at the system level to prevent waste streams from reaching the festival site in the first place. Thanks to our extensive resource management plans.

In 2017 DGTL was the first European festival to introduce the cashless payments system.

We have a 100% separation rate of all waste flows.

At our Amsterdam 2022 edition we achieved 0 grams of waste per visitor.

CASHLESS PAYMENTS

In addition to plastic cups, there is another major source of plastic waste at linear festivals. Most visitors go directly to the token register upon entering. Here they can exchange hard euros for festival currency. One visitor gets an average of 7-10 tokens per festival. These (data stamped) tokens are made of plastic and can only be used in one festival edition. In 2017 We moved away from the festival token and, visitors were able to make payments with their bank cards. This results in considerable savings of plastic waste on an annual basis.

HARDCUPS

Every festival visitor knows the iconic image of the havoc, also known as the sea of plastic cups, at the end of a festival. Hundreds of kilos of trampled and contaminated plastic are ready to be burned. This simply cannot continue, and fortunately more and more festival organizers are realizing this.

At DGTL, we have been using a hard cups system for years to prevent this mountain of waste. Visitors pay €1,50 extra per drink with their first order. With the second-order, they hand in the old cup, so they avoid having to pay extra. If the visitor does not want a new drink, the hard cup can be handed in for a recycle token. This token can be returned to the bar with the next order. A simple system with major consequences. By replacing plastic cups with hardcups, approximately 1000kg of plastic waste is avoided per edition.