The electronic music festival DGTL, which next takes place this Easter weekend in Amsterdam, has ambitions to become the world’s first circular music festival. Metabolic is helping by undertaking a project to fully map DGTL’s waste flows and will then use this to provide a template for how other festivals can assess and improve their approach to waste.
Annually, 700 Dutch festivals attract 21 million visitors and on average, each festivalgoer produces 2.33 kilograms of waste on the festival grounds. To combat the growing problem of waste, festival organisers, Foundation Clean Netherlands (Nederland Schoon) which develops campaigns and provides litter solutions, and the Dutch national government (Rijksoverheid) have teamed up to better reduce, separate and recycle waste. The initiative, called “Green Deal Zero-Waste Festivals” (Green Deal Afvalvrije Festivals), includes some of the largest Dutch festivals.
To counter the lack of consistent and comprehensive data on waste streams – that would allow the success of waste reduction schemes to be evaluated – Metabolic will carry out a full waste stream analysis of DGTL as a pilot. We will collect and evaluate data and visualize the waste stream analysis in a clear and sharable way. All plastic, cardboard, glass, organics, wood and metal waste streams will be visualised. This will not only lead to improved approaches at DGTL but it will also provide information that the other festivals in the group can benefit from.
Since its conception in 2012, sustainability has been an integral part of the DGTL festival’s program. It is powered by renewable energy, have opted for meatless catering, plastic is recycled to create new products and urine is collected to be used as garden fertilizer. This year the festival will also launch a new Eco-coin that rewards anyone contributing to sustainability projects.
Metabolic’s work with DGTL will further help it’s transition to becoming circular, and will ensure DGTL can continue to set an example for the fast-growing international festival industry. We will be sharing the outcomes of our work with DGTL after the festival.
DGTL takes place on April 14, 15 and 16 at NDSM-Wharf, Amsterdam. For more information on DGTL and its plans to go circular, read about their plans or this year’s festival here.
