CCE to change 300,000 festival-goers recycling habits

CCE’s ‘Happiness Recycled’ project aims to encourage sustainable behaviour change in consumers and boost recycling rates across the UK. 

CCE hopes to engage with over 300,000 people at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park throughout July and the Royal Highland Show in June.

Nick Brown, associate director for recycling at CCE, said: “Last year we worked with Zero Waste Scotland to take the recycling message to around 190,000 people.​

“This year we are aiming to take it to 300,000 people through activities at the Royal Highland Show in a couple of weeks’ time and the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park in July.”​

Recycling habits ​

Festivals were an effective way to spread the message about recycling as there was a wealth of young people in a good mood and with plenty of free time willing to discuss their recycling habits, Brown claimed.

“What works really well are interactive bins,”​ he added, “We give people games to play and have fun and it draws them into the area where we can give them some of the recycling messages​.”

This year the firm will be hoping to draw people in with a table football game – people must recycle a bottle in order to release the ball and play the game.

A Batak performance challenge, where consumers react to light sensors to recycle as much as they can in 30 seconds, a basketball shooting challenge and giant interactive flower pot recycling bin will also be available. 

Brown said one of the biggest challenges to changing recycling behaviour was to make sure people remembered the messages they had learnt once the festival was over.

“We have to try and make sure people remember this on a dark Wednesday in January when they are in their kitchen,”​ he said. “We are going to continue with the photo-mechanic, where people get a fridge magnet to take home and remind them of what they learnt, what they saw and what they pay have pledged to do about recycling.”​

Engaged with activities  ​

CCE estimated that since 2010 – when the firm started engaging with people at festivals – about 3M had engaged with its activities.

Around 22% of people surveyed by the firm said they were recycling more as a result of speaking with CCE at a music festival, the firm claimed.

In the past 12 months CCE also formed partnerships with retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Waitrose – engaging with 20M people – to change the recycling habits of consumers in the stores. 

Online Tesco shoppers were offered 25 green clubcard points in return for filling out a survey on recycling, watching a video and pledging to recycle all their bottles and cans for six-weeks.

40,000 people took part in the survey and two-thirds of people who previously claimed not to recycle were now recycling, CCE claimed.