Helping Keep One of the World’s Biggest Festivals Green
Glastonbury Festival might be best known for its legendary performances, iconic stages, and either heatwaves or muddy wellies, but behind the scenes, there’s a huge sustainability operation working hard to manage the waste and protect the beautiful Somerset landscape it calls home. We’re proud that Perrys Recycling is part of that story.
As a long-standing family-run recycling business based in Somerset, it means a lot to be involved in something as globally recognised, yet locally rooted, as Glastonbury. Each year, we team up with a specialist waste contractor, and an army of volunteers to work together to process a mountain of recyclable materials collected from across the festival site.
The Numbers Behind the Noise
With over 200,000 people descending on Worthy Farm each year, it’s no surprise that a festival of this scale generates a huge amount of waste. The festival itself ensure that no plastic bottles are sold on-site, with their many drinking water points, they encourage festival goers to bring a reusable bottle, but still some plastic bottles slip through. So from drinks cans and those plastic bottles to cardboard packaging, there’s plenty that can be recycled, and we’re here to make sure it is.
Throughout the festival, our partners collect and sort the recyclables. Throughout and following the event, truckloads of these materials are delivered directly to our facilities, where our teams get to work. We process hundreds of tonnes of aluminium cans, glass bottles, plastics and cardboard, making sure as much as possible is given a second life.
Why It Matters
Glastonbury has always been a champion of green initiatives, and it’s one of the most sustainability-conscious festivals in the world. From banning single-use plastics to encouraging reusable bottles and cups, the organisers and attendees alike are focused on reducing their environmental footprint. Our job is to ensure that the recycling side of that vision is done properly and efficiently.
Drinks cans, in particular, are a key material we receive in bulk from the festival. The good news? Aluminium is infinitely recyclable – meaning it can be recycled again and again without losing its quality or performance. Turning used cans into new ones also uses 95% less energy than producing them from raw materials. Pretty impressive eh!
By playing our part, we’re helping reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, lower carbon emissions, and support the kind of circular economy that Glastonbury, and our business, believes in.
Proud to Be Local
As a Somerset-based company with over 63 years in the recycling industry, supporting a local event of this scale means a lot to us. Our team is based just down the road at our Marston Magna HQ, and over the years many of us have attended the festival as fans as well as service providers.
It’s hard work, but it’s incredibly rewarding to know that we’re helping keep the fields clean and the festival green, while doing what we do best.
It’s been another great year at Glastonbury, so a big thank you to everyone involved, from collection crews and site staff to every festival-goer who took the time to put their rubbish in the correct bins! We’re going to miss it next year as it’s a fallow year, so we look forward to June 2027!
If you’re interested in how Perrys Recycling can support your business or event with sustainable waste solutions, get in touch with our friendly team at www.perrys-recycling.co.uk or email info@perrys-recycling.co.uk.
