Bestival will only sell water in cans this year to reduce plastic use

Bestival, and it’s family-friendly sister festival Camp Bestival, have confirmed that water will only be available in cans at this year’s events.

As members of the Association of Independent Festivals, the two events at Lulworth Castle are pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic by 2021. The ban stretches as far as glitter and cable ties, so it’s no surprise to see festivals start tackling plastic bottles this summer.

Rob da Bank, who organises both Bestival and Camp Bestival, confirmed tonight on Twitter that all plastic water bottles sold by their bars will be replaced with fully recyclable aluminium cans.

In partnership with CanO Water, the festivals will be supplying water in cans claimed to have the highest recycling rate of any drink on the market. Once recycled, a can could be back on a shelf in as little as 6 weeks.

“But I can reseal a plastic bottle and refill it?”

Whilst water will continue to be available at standpipes around the festivals, fans have expressed concerns about not being able to refill the cans. It’s also pretty difficult to keep a can upright whilst sleeping in a tent.

UPDATE: We’ve had confirmation from the Bestival press office that the cans sold at the festival will not CanO Water’s resealable cans, but their standard ring pull version. This means the cans will be 100% aluminium, but won’t be resealable. 

Thankfully, CanO Water also offer cans with an innovate resealable lid, which they also claim doesn’t affect the recycling process.

However, we don’t have any confirmation from organisers as to if the Bestival and Camp Bestival branded cans will be supplied with resealable lids, as CanO Water also supply cans with a standard ring pull.

Cans are among the lightest drinks containers around, reducing emissions from their transportation. 75% of aluminium produced since 1888 is supposedly still in use today, thanks to effective recycling. Cans also provide a longer shelf life, protecting drinks from the effects of prolonged exposure to light.

Rob Da Bank told press: “We’re very serious about reducing the plastic waste at our festivals, which we know is a problem that needs solving. We’ve already launched The Final Straw and joined the Drastic on Plastic campaign, so getting rid of plastic water bottles and using CanO Water’s 100% recyclable cans on our bars is a big step ahead in our mission. We’d love for all the traders on site to be plastic free right now but we’re also realistic that can’t happen overnight. Our goal is 2021 but we’re going to do as much as we can before that date and bringing in CanO Water is an important step that we’re pleased we can make this year.”

CanO Water co-founder Ariel Booker commented: “We’re excited to work with Bestival this summer to significantly reduce plastic waste and help the festival take steps to become even more eco-friendly. Replacing plastic bottles with our infinitely recyclable cans is a big win for the environment, but a bold move from Bestival which other festivals should take notice of.”

Aluminium Recycling Facts:

• Close to 70% of all aluminium drinks cans are recycled globally, making the aluminium drink can the most recycled drinks container on the planet.
• Anything made of aluminium can be recycled infinitely – not only cans, but aluminium foil, food trays, window frames, automotive components. All can be melted down and used to make the same (or other) products again.
• Every minute of every day, an average of 113,200 aluminium cans are recycled.
• Used aluminium drink cans can be recycled and back on supermarket shelves as new drink cans in as little as 60 days.
• If all aluminium cans were recycled in the UK, we would need 14 million fewer dustbins. Tidy!
• Around 5.9 billion aluminium drinks cans are recycled in the UK every year. That’s enough to circle the world almost 18 times if laid end to end.
• Recycling one tonne of aluminium saves the carbon dioxide emissions of driving nearly 27,000 miles.
• Recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.
• Recycling aluminium takes 95% less energy than producing it from its raw materials. The recycling process also generates only 5% of the greenhouse gas emissions.
• 75% of the almost one billion tonnes of aluminium ever produced is still in productive use, some having been through countless loops of its lifecycle.

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