Plastic waste is environmentally devastating. Even though many households separate plastic waste from other waste, more must be done. There are many places and events that don’t separate waste, including festivals. You may be familiar with festival areas littered with trampled plastic cups and other waste at the end of the evening. It turns out that 99% of those cups are not recycled. They may end up in oceans, being harmful to life below water.

Grolsch wants to act now and therefore starts a pilot with reusable hard plastic cups. There would be a deposit on such cups. The pilot does not start in Twente, but at festivals where Kornuit (one of their brands) is draughted. The cups were first tested at a festival in Noord-Scharwoude. The pilot is meant for Grolsch to gain experience, but ultimately, Grolsch wants to reduce plastic waste and improve the visitor’s festival experience. The aim is to only have reusable cups at festivals where Grolsch is served by 2020.

This initiative is not the only one to reduce the use of disposables. For example, Amsterdam Open Air already used cups with a deposit. Also, the European Union is attempting to reduce the use of single-use plastics.