Towards circular packaging at events

How festivals can reduce waste

Summer is festival season all over Europe. People gather to enjoy music, food, and fun in parks, city squares, and other public spaces. But when the fun is over, what’s often left behind? Piles of single-use cups, plates, and food containers.

Most of this waste isn’t just plastic—it includes paper, foil, compostables, and bio-based materials. The real problem is that we use these things once and throw them away.

To truly reduce waste, we need to move toward circular systems: where food and drinks are served in reusable packaging, and nothing is designed to be thrown out after just one use.

Why it matters

Single-use packaging creates a huge amount of waste and pollution. Even materials that seem better—like compostables—are often hard to recycle and may contain harmful chemicals.

By switching to reusable cups, containers, and utensils, festivals can:

• Cut down waste
• Lower their environmental impact
• Show that sustainable events are possible

Festivals – and not only – already doing it

Here are some great examples in the Baltic Sea Region, also in the frame of the Change(K)now! project:

Latvia

• Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival
• Riga’s birthday celebration
• Youth Festival in Liepāja

Estonia

• Dance and Song Celebration Festival

Germany

• Hamburg port anniversary
• Sunset Run / Die Laufgesellschaft

Denmark

• Copenhagen Sprint
• Copenhagen Street Days

What you can do as a festival-goer

Your choices make a difference. Next time you attend an event:

• Bring your own reusable cup, bottle, and food container
• Pack a small set of cutlery and a cloth napkin
• Say “no thanks” to unnecessary packaging
• Support vendors using reusable options
• Share your actions, others might follow your lead!

What organizers can do

If you’re planning an event or working with vendors, here are a few steps to support circular packaging:

• Set a goal to reduce or eliminate single-use items
• Offer reusable dishes and a deposit-return system
• Provide refill stations for water and drinks
• Work with vendors to choose safe and reusable options
• Promote your event as circular-friendly, not just “plastic-free”

Circular events are already happening

With a bit of planning and support from the community, circular food packaging at events is not only possible – it’s happening now.

Let’s make these good practices the new normal, one festival at a time.

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