– For my part, it doesn’t matter. I think it’s a good initiative that can make people more aware. That’s what Steffen Aronsen says. He is at the Rakettnatt music festival in Tromsø, which is being held this weekend. Festival manager at Rakettnatt, Stian Johansen, says that they have the environmental tax on the glasses for two reasons in particular. It is a clean-up measure and a measure to achieve a higher recycling rate of rubbish at the festival, according to the festival manager. – If a plastic glass is pressed into the gravel or onto the asphalt, it is sorted as residual waste. – But if the glass can be delivered undamaged and in full form for recycling to Remiks, we get 100% recycling from them. Rakettnatt is Northern Norway’s largest music festival. Festival manager Stian Johansen introduced an environmental tax on glass last year. Photo: Rebekka Ellingsen / news A plastic glass costs NOK 20. The next time you buy a drink, you can use the same glass. If you don’t want to buy a new drink right away, you get a bong that you can hand in the next time you buy something. – Spread over three days, the 20 kroner is not all the world, says Johansen in Tromsø. Positives for environmental tax Several hundred festivals are organized in Norway each year, where most large ones have an environmental tax of NOK 20-25 extra for the cup. – Isn’t it a bit expensive? – Yes, but it’s going well. Beate Børja was at the Island Festival in Oslo. news spoke to several festival-goers, and all were positive about the fee. For example, Tommy Bergwall: – Twenty-five kroner is not too expensive. Then people take care of the glasses. If it gets too cheap, they are thrown away, he says. Beate Børja (back left) at a festival with friends. Tommy Bergwall front right. Photo: SYNNØVE SUNDBY FALLMYR / news Naturvernforbundet: – A step in the right direction, but not the solution The cups for the Island Festival are made of hard plastic, so that they can be used over and over again. Monica Flasnes supports the environmental tax at festivals. Photo: SYNNØVE SUNDBY FALLMYR / news The Nature Conservation Association believes that all festivals should use such cups. Because even if the festival participants on the Island are positive about the environmental tax, the Nature Conservation Association is not: – Environmental tax is a step in the right direction, but not the solution. Sofie van Canegem Expert advisor for circular economy and consumption at the Norwegian Nature Conservation Association It’s about the type of plastic. The Nature Conservancy believes that Norway must reduce the use of single-use plastics. Canegem says that Norway is behind several countries, and refers to Flanders in Belgium, where last year an order for reusable cups was introduced at all events. – But do you need more plastic to make a reusable cup? – Yes, but we have several studies that show that reusable cups that are used more than ten times have a smaller environmental footprint than disposable cups. This is what people on the Island say about the environmental tax: Monica Flasnes – I support the environment and the tax. It could have been included in the ticket, but the fact that I’m paying extra now means that I’ll be taking care of my glass all evening. Nud Dudja – I support it! But maybe they should do like Glastonbury music festival, where you can pay an extra five pounds for the ticket, and get a metal cup with a logo that you can take home as a souvenir afterwards. The Norwegian Environment Agency: – No plastic-free alternatives Despite the fact that Norway is obliged to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics, it is still legal to sell such glasses. Section leader for communications in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Hege Rooth Olbergsveen, explains: – This is mainly because there are no perfectly good alternatives that are completely plastic-free. There are, however, several measures: – For example, the recently concluded Plastic Partnership for food containers for fast food, as well as drinking cups with lids made entirely or partly of plastic. The island: – The money goes to handling The environmental tax itself is decided by the festivals themselves; whether they should have it, how much it should cost, and so on. – Isn’t it a green shell shelter so that you both earn more money and have less rubbish to pick up? – No, the fee goes to the handling of the glasses, says PR manager for Øya, Jonas Prangerød. – But we are dependent on bringing in a high proportion of the glasses for it to be sustainable. According to Prangerød, they collect over 90% of all reusable glass. The rest are crushed or disappear (read: taken home.) PR manager for Øya, Jonas Prangerød. In 2019, they started a collaboration with Ringnes with thick plastic glasses. Øya and Ravnedalen Live are highlighted by several cleaning organizations as particularly environmentally friendly festivals. Photo: SYNNØVE SUNDBY FALLMYR / news – Why does it cost extra? – They must be collected together, washed and reused… – But is it cumbersome to bring the glasses back home? – Then you can exchange the glass for a token, which you exchange for a new glass the next day. What do you think about environmental fees at festivals? Abrupt! Supports all environmental measures. Don’t like it. I care about the environment, but I don’t think tax is the way to go. Show result Infinitum: – Most of it is recycled The festivals also choose the type of cup they want to use. Many large events use disposable plastic glasses. According to the Norwegian recycling company Infinitum, they have collected 30 percent more disposable plastic glasses this year compared to last year. – Most large festivals use this scheme. All the mugs we collect are recycled together with the plastic bottles, which in turn become new bottles and mugs. This is what the managing director of Infinitum, Kjell Olav A. Maldum, writes to news. Troms: – Not relevant with hard plastic Replacing the normal plastic glasses with hard plastic cups that they have at the Øya Festival, is not relevant in Tromsø, according to the festival manager at Rakettnatt. It has been considered, but: – The only laundry in Norway is in Horten. The environmental benefits are gone long before we have reached Saltfjellet. – Those reusable glasses are not for us. It is neither economical nor environmentally friendly to have them in Northern Norway all the time it takes to transport the glasses to and from. According to Johansen, there is also a large percentage of the public who return the glasses. – I think it is also a good tool for creating good attitudes. Both for sorting at home. – Maybe you become more aware of it. Every time you think a little more and sort a little better, it helps. Reuse before single use? The deposit scheme Maldum i Infinitum aims at is called PET, and was first put into use in 2021. Here, festivals and other major events are offered recyclable disposable plastic glasses. But: – There is a trend for festivals to switch to reusable glass, both nationally and internationally, writes researcher Einar Louis Hinrichsen at the research institute SINTEF to news. In addition to Infinitum’s deposit scheme for single-use plastic, there are several players who offer other reuse solutions: – SINTEF is working with Tomra Reuse in the research project Re3-plast, he writes to news. In the project, they work, among other things, on finding robust materials so that the products can be washed and reused many times. Professor: – It is difficult to say what is best According to a research report from 2021, carried out by Norsus on behalf of the Øya Festival, it is recommended that “festivals have good systems for collection regardless of which beer glass solution they choose”. It is therefore not as simple as the thick glasses being the most environmentally friendly. Firstly, there is not enough research, according to NTNU professor Francesca Verones. Prof. Dr. Francesca VeronesProfessor of industrial ecology at NTNU. Photo: Titt Melhuus. – Also, it depends on what you are talking about; the actual production of the glasses or the littering? She says it also matters where the festival is: – If there is little access to water, it is not necessarily good to rinse the cups after use. Then disposable plastic might be better. Here’s more meat on your bones for those of you who haven’t had enough until now: Keep Norway Clean (HNR) They don’t have their own figures on littering from festivals. But in a clean-up report from 2023, it is especially single-use products from take away that generate a lot of rubbish. – We believe that measures that motivate the handing in of single-use items are good, and thus environmental fees can be part of the solution. According to the HNR, littering is linked to outdoor events a problem. – Among other things, we encourage the Ski WC in Trondheim in 2025 to have a zero vision for littering, communications manager Merethe Hommelsgård writes to news. Hold Norge Clean is a Norwegian non-profit association and member organization that works against littering. Grønt Punkt Norge… are positive about the tax, among other things because they think it results in less rubbish. – It’s not all that the cleaners get to pick up if it’s been trodden down well, communications manager Kari-Lill Ljøstad writes to news. They themselves have no statistics. Grønt Punkt Norge is a company that collects packaging from its member companies and sends them for recycling. The Norwegian Environment Agency In an email to news, section leader Hege Rooth Olbergsveen writes that they do not know the effect of the environmental tax because there are no requirements in national regulations for such a tax. It is still legal to sell plastic glasses, mainly because there are no perfectly good alternatives that are completely plastic-free. But in the EU’s directive on plastic products, there is a ban on plastic straws and cutlery. The Norwegian Environment Agency works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, managed Norwegian nature and prevent pollution, and is subject to the politically controlled Ministry of Climate and the Environment. Published 24/08/2024, at 21.26
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– Covers the real problem, believes the Nature Conservation Association – news Culture and entertainment
