'Festival tents' should be banned to cut down on plastic waste

'Festival tents' should be banned to cut down on plastic waste

Tents should not be abandoned at festivals, organisers have said

Disposable "festival tents" should be banned to help prevent almost 900 tonnes of plastic waste each year, festival organisers have said.

A group of more than 60 independent festivals across the UK have urged retailers such as Argos and Tesco to stop marketing and selling tents as single-use items.

Festival-goers are also being urged to take their tents home with them at the end of the event.

An estimated 250,000 tents are left at music festivals across the UK each year. Many are not collected by charities and can't be recycled so instead end up in landfill sites.

The average tent is made largely of plastic and weighs 3.5kg - the equivalent of 8,750 straws. A four-man tent can be picked up on the high street for as little as £30.

The initiatives to stop the tents ending up in the tip come from the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), who include festivals Shambala, Boomtown Fair and Boardmasters.

AIF’s 10-year report, published last year, found 10% of people attending events linked to their organisation had abandoned a tent during that year’s festival season. This works out as an estimated 875 tonnes of plastic waste - the equivalent of eight blue whales.

In 2018, the first year of a pledge to cut down on plastic, festivals reported some significant changes: 93% of signatories ditched plastic straws, 40% banned the sale of drinks in single-use plastic on-site, 40% replaced single-use bar cups with reusable cups, 67% sold branded reusable drinks bottles, and 87% promoted the use of reusable bottles.

AIF CEO Paul Reed said: “We call upon major retailers to stop marketing and selling tents and other camping items as essentially single-use, and profiting from disposable culture."

He added: "The message here is not ‘buy a more expensive tent’… festival audiences can take positive action and reduce their carbon footprint simply by taking their tent home and reusing it, ensuring that it doesn’t become a single-use item this summer."

:: Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign encourages people to reduce their single-use plastics. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com.