Resources: From Problematic Waste to Resourceful Solution
An ocean of trampled plastic cups. That's what festival grounds used to look like after the show was over. Until 2013, when DGTL started its sustainable actions to become a fully circular event. And we’ve come a long way since by not thinking of waste in terms of problems, but finding resourceful solutions. Because that's what waste really is, or should be: a valuable resource. This is the first of five articles about DGTL's five pillars of sustainability.
We tackled that mountain of trash by introducing hardcups and choosing cashless card payments over one-time only plastic tokens. With a significant portion of all greenhouse gas emissions coming from the handling of materials and the limited amount of resources we have, those first steps were a no-brainer. But that was just the start.
Our goal? Every material purchased for the festival should be reused or recycled at the highest possible level. And that’s what we’ve done: using visible recycle stations, smart backstage bin plans and clear, sustainable reusable signing, we’ve reached a 100% separation rate and zero grams residual waste per visitor.
On the Grounds
In the last couple of editions, we’ve eliminated all single-use plastics, tested an AI-powered automatic recycling bin and sent out mobile robots asking people for their cans together with Innofest, and have taken the crowd along on our sustainable journey by sharing what we’ve learned. Setting up and breaking down the festival are now completely waste-free, too – by selecting and designing products and processes that focus on ease of assembly and disassembly. Thanks to our visitors actively contributing to recycling efforts, we can now even manage to clean up the festival site with a smaller crew of sustainability legends. And every year, we end up with incredibly useful new data that helps us find new solutions and improve existing ones.
Beyond the Fence
Whether you’re on stage, in the crowd, or behind the scenes - we all contribute to making DGTL sustainable. And since a festival pretty much operates like a small city, we hope that what we learn here can be of use beyond the fence. For visitors, to put into practice at home, but also for the broader society. By functioning as a practical testing ground for sustainable solutions, we can work with innovators so they can try out their ideas, which could potentially benefit both the festival industry and the wider world.
What's Next?
The more we learn, the more we realize we still need to do. And that’s ok. Every edition, together with our partners from all over, we continue to find new and better ways to run the most sustainable party in the world. And with our visitors pitching in more and more, it truly becomes a collaborative effort. Let’s get the crowd moving to the beat while joining us in making a big sustainable impact.
Your Impact
By participating in all of DGTL’s sustainable solutions, and even by simply being part of the crowd, you make a positive impact on the world.
What we’ve been talking about here is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything that’s involved in running a completely circular festival. Want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes, year-round? Click on through.
