UNITED KINGDOM (CelebrityAccess) Live Nation’s initiative to remove single-use plastics from its festivals has expanded to some of the biggest names in the UK outdoor music scene, including the Reading, Leeds, Wireless, L attitude and Download festivals.
UK venues owned and/or operated by Live Nation will also be affected, 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,” Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement.
The move is part of Live Nation’s imitative to achie3ve zero waste at its venues by 2030. The ban would include plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds. Glitter, plastic food trays, cable ties and toiletry bottles (hand-wash, shower gel, etc.) are also discouraged.
“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,” Rapino added. “Together, our concerts, venues, festivals and offices around the world are setting new sustainability standards for live events.”
Glastonbury announced in February that it is ending its use of plastic bottles at the massive UK event. Earlier this month, the Association of Independent Festivals, representing 60 indie festivals, called upon attendees to stop using single-use plastic items. It also urged campers to take their tents home with them because an estimated 250,000 tents are left at music festivals every year and cannot be recycled, which sends them to the landfills.
Live Nation has also called upon retailers like Tesco and Argos to stop marketing tents as “single-use,” thereby promoting them as items that can be abandoned at festival sites.
