Smukfest Pursues Eco-Friendly Initiatives with New Measures
Smukfest, a popular music festival in Denmark, is taking significant steps towards environmental sustainability with its latest initiatives. The festival aims to collect and recycle 75 percent of its new eco-friendly beer cups. This ambitious goal comes despite already high ticket prices, and festival attendees should be prepared for an additional cost of five Danish kroner (approximately 0.75 USD) per cup on top of the beer price.
In exchange for this fee, the initiative titled “Byt til nyt” (Exchange for New) allows festival-goers to exchange used cups for free at bars, as well as offering a one-kroner refund (approximately 0.15 USD) for cups at designated return stations. Cathrine Christensen, the sustainability coordinator for Smukfest, emphasizes that the new cup is the most environmentally friendly option in the long run.
The festival’s goal of collecting 75 percent of the expected 1.4 million cups will require active participation from attendees in sorting and returning the cups properly. To facilitate this, Smukfest has implemented several initiatives, including the installation of 500 new receptacles specifically designed for the cups, as well as an enhanced deposit return system that rewards one kroner per cup at return stations.
Smukfest has already observed positive results from the first day of music, with 85 percent of the purchased cups returned, according to Trine Bang, the festival’s content manager. However, it remains unclear whether this initiative has impacted the overall beer sales. The festival hopes to maintain this momentum to achieve its ambitious sustainability goals.