One of the best-known music festivals in the north has banned single-use plastic products as part of a drive to make the event environmentally-friendly.
Hebridean Celtic Festival – known as HebCelt – is outlawing the use of plastic products during the event and will supply free, bio-degradable paper cups and encourage festival-goers, staff and performers to use re-usable water bottles.
Plastic straws were banished from the Stornoway event in 2014.
HebCelt director, Caroline Maclennan said the aim is to reduce the magnitude of waste generated from the event each year. She said: “The festival is proud of its success at recycling and minimising waste on the site, and the recent focus on plastics has prompted us to see what else we can do to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated.
“The extra measures introduced this year will not only reduce the amount of plastic being processed but will also help to keep the site clear of litter and therefore more pleasant for festival-goers.
“The success of these actions is dependent on the goodwill of our visitors, the willingness of our vendors to participate in green initiatives and the sterling efforts of our Green Team, who strive so hard to keep the festival site clean and tidy.”
Catering outlets based on the site are being encouraged to supply soft drinks in paper cups, as well as continue to use biodegradable plates and cutlery. More hydration stations will also be installed across the site, providing fresh tap water to festival-goers.
The move comes just one month after the UK’s biggest contemporary music festival, Glastonbury, revealed plans to also ban the use of plastic products. This follows on from a nationwide campaign to reduce the level of plastic waste.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has spoken of her delight surrounding the move and encourages other organisations to follow suit. She said: “I welcome HebCelt’s steps to ban single use plastic items.
“It’s good to see communities and organisations across Scotland taking steps to help change Scotland’s throwaway culture and I would encourage other organisations to follow HebCelt’s example and consider what they can do to reduce single use plastics.
“Through our national litter and marine litter strategies, we are minimising the amount of plastic which gets thrown away.”
