Tomorrowland must use reusable cups, Environment minister rules
Music festival Tomorrowland will not be exempted from using reusable cups, Flemish Environment minister Zuhal Demir announced on Tuesday. "Tomorrowland is a fantastic festival that is also a small multinational. With a name like that, you should be a champion of good environmental policy," she said in a press release.
Since June last year, drinks at events in Flanders can only be served in reusable containers. There is an exception for PET bottles and cans if the organiser provides a system that collects at least 95 per cent of these disposable containers for recycling.
In 2023, an exemption was possible if an event still had disposable cups in stock. From 1 January, an exemption will only be possible if organisers can demonstrate that reusable cups would not provide an environmental benefit.
Third rejection
Tomorrowland applied for an exemption, which was rejected in February and March, and has now been rejected for a third time. According to Demir, the organisers did not do enough research and tried to prove "with an email from a cup supplier and an email conversation with third parties" that it was impossible to go reusable.
"According to analysis by [Flemish public waste agency] OVAM, this is not true. The fact that other major festivals are going reusable points in the same direction," Demir said.
"For more than a year, every organiser has known what the legislation is, and it does not seem appropriate to me to make an exception for one organisation, when all other organisers have obviously taken sufficient initiatives to comply with the legislation," she said. "I therefore confirm the legislation for the third time, without exception."
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT
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