Festival cups: sustainability or a money-making scam?

PalmThe trend of personalized cups at festivals emerged with the intention of eliminating single-use plastics and reducing their environmental impact, but, according to the latest study by the Rezero Foundation, it has ended up becoming a new business model that contributes to pollution and environmental degradation.

This phenomenon emerged after the Spanish government implemented Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soil and the 2022 Royal Decree on Packaging, which forced festivals to abandon single-use cups. The measure was implemented to achieve a radical change in the generation of packaging waste and single-use cups at festivals and social and cultural events. But Rezero emphasizes that it has been "quite the opposite." "It was an opportunity to move toward zero waste, but it ended up being manipulated by the companies and organizations organizing festivals and festive events. Most have opted to simply offer and charge for reusable cups without establishing a real collection and cleaning system, leaving reuse in the hands of attendees," the organization denounces.

According to Rezero, this is just one example of the monetary use that large cultural and social events make of the concept of sustainability. The organization criticizes the fact that at festivals, "they don't let you bring anything outside, even if it's reusable. They make you buy everything there and then you can't return it. They use sustainability to make more money." "In the name of the climate emergency, some take advantage of the collective conscience to legitimize hypocritical and opportunistic practices," it says.

Regarding the cups, Rezero asserts that this reusable format has become a new business model. "Not to reduce resource consumption or for the environment, but to increase profits," it criticizes. Furthermore, it also denounces that festival cups are not actually reusable, since they are not returned, do not work with a deposit model, have no cleaning mechanism, and are often designed in a way that makes reuse unfeasible.

The Rezero Foundation is asking festivals and events, in order to move closer to zero waste and be less exclusive, to allow the entry of drinks and food; to guarantee a genuine glass return and washing system, with supplier companies including their collection and sanitization service for future use; to opt for standardized, unbranded or year-old glasses that can be used for other events; to charge for glasses, always with a returnable deposit; and to create spaces that make it easy for attendees to return glasses and collect their deposit, without long waits that are not worth the deposit.