Guidance for event organisers using Council land

Events generate large amounts of waste not only in the provision of catering, but also from litter, packaging, promotional materials and goods bought or given away. It is essential that all events have comprehensive and effective strategies for reducing waste produced. This should include provision of recycling facilities which can be easily accessed by visitors, as well as strategies to reduce litter, packaging and ensuring that items sold or used in promotion are long-lasting, sustainably produced, and durable. 

What you must do as an event organiser:  

• Provide recycling facilities at all events for paper and cardboard, drinks cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles and containers. 
• Use clear labelling and signage. 
• Reuse promotional materials between events whenever possible. 
• Remove all litter from the site and recycle as much as possible.
• Make sure everyone involved in the event is engaged in waste minimisation and recycling.
• Small and Medium events hosts are expected to share their plans for dealing with waste. 
• Large events hosts will need to provide a Waste Management Plan to be approved by the Council’s Waste Management and Sustainability Team, a minimum of 4 weeks before the event. This should detail: 
  • The type of waste your event is likely to produce.
  • Your approach to maximise recycling and minimise waste to landfill. 
  • How and where each waste stream will be collected and disposed of.
  • Targets for waste reduction.
  • Your plan for litter collection and recycling.
  • Your strategy to communicate the recycling services to attendees and traders to ensure everyone knows what to do and is engaged and that contamination is reduced. 
  • How you will ensure you have sufficient bin numbers and types for the size of your event. For events with more than five food vendors, food waste bins should be provided.
  • Your approach to monitoring. Checks should be undertaken throughout the event and event waste reports kept detailing volumes, types, disposal (how and where) and waste transfer notes. Once the event is over you may be asked for Waste Transfer Notes showing the quantity of waste collected and where it was taken.

Ideas to reduce waste impacts:  

• Can you incentivise visitors to actively recycle during the event? Deposit cup return schemes work well. Discounted drinks for those bringing a reusable cup is another good idea. 
• Can you donate items to charity at the end of the event? Arrange in advance with charities so they are prepared to receive re-purposed goods.
• Could you provide signage to display on food stalls, to inform people where waste can be recycled?  
• Could you use volunteers to supervise the bins and direct people to put their waste in the right place. 

The food that is provided has an impact on people’s health as well as the environment through production, processing and transport. We encourage event organisers to think about providing a mix of food options that include plant-based, locally sourced foods and healthy, allergen-free meals. 

The packaging that the food is provided in will make up the bulk of the waste produced so encourage your vendors to choose the most sustainable packaging. We have provided some ideas below.   

What you must do as an event organiser: 

• Prohibit the use of single-use plastic or polystyrene in the form of food containers, cups, cutlery and stirrers, plates, bottles (except water bottles), bags, straws and takeaway packaging. 
• For festivals and large events, invite attendance of at least 5% vegan caterers, striving to increase the proportion of non ultra-processed whole foods options available.
• Recommend that all caterers provide at least one complete meal which is vegan and gluten free. 
• Seek traders that can demonstrate sustainable practices (e.g. Fair Trade, locally sourced, seasonal, vegetarian, vegan, organic, animal welfare standards or sustainably sourced seafood)

We strongly advise caterers to: 

• Use paper bags and plates where possible instead of boxes as these are easily recycled in the paper bin without taking up too much space. Please see the Suggested Packaging document below. 
• Use cardboard or aluminium food containers along with a paper liner, to catch the food. These can then be recycled in the provided bins. 
• Do not use compostable plastic alternatives as these are indistinguishable from plastic and can cause problems if they are placed in the plastic recycling bins. 
• Choose bamboo or cardboard cutlery rather than wood, plastic or compostable plastic. Explore possibilities for more sustainable cutlery options as they become available (e.g. card cutlery).
• Consider providing bulk dispensing of sauces to reduce the need for individual plastic packets.
• Separate oils and fats and correctly store and dispose of them to avoid water pollution.

Ideas to reduce the catering impacts:    

• Can you give preference to vendors who can provide local produce, seasonal produce, meat and dairy which meet high animal welfare standards, certified organic produce, Fairtrade products or products using sustainably sourced palm oil, sustainable sourced seafood, and offer healthy options and portions (appropriate portion size also saves waste)?
• Can you utilise a reusable cup scheme to reduce the amount of cup waste? 
• Are there any possibilities for more sustainable cutlery (e.g. card cutlery)?
• Could you set up washing stations for patrons to return their items for washing and reuse?

• Suggested Packaging ( pdf - 250.18 KB )

Events use power for lighting, sound and heat. Since we declared a Climate Emergency, we want to do all that we can to reduce our emissions. That means looking for clean power sources, using energy efficient equipment for lighting, power and hire equipment and encouraging stall holders and entertainers to reduce their power needs as much as possible.

What you must do as an event organiser:  

• Use mains power over generators wherever possible.
• Prohibit the use of generators powered by petrol, or open framed generators whether Diesel, LPG powered. 
• We permit the use of fully enclosed and silenced generators powered by LPG Gas or Diesel. Each generator, along with associated cabling and distribution, should have a certificate of performance and safety test prior to use and delivery to site. Traders should also include the operation of a generator(s) and associated risks in their traders risk assessment. Please see Generator Guidance for full details. We recommend instead using a biodiesel generator. The most sustainable fuels are sourced from Waste Vegetable Oil or Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. 

Ideas to reduce energy impacts:   

• Could you use solar powered lighting as an option for summer events?
• Where generators must be used can they be shared between users? 
• Could you use timers to switch off equipment when it is not needed? 
• Could you use only energy efficient lighting and equipment?
• Could you purchase your energy from a renewable source?
• Once you have reduced energy use as far as possible, is it possible to offset the events emissions?
• Could you engage visitors in sustainability through activities like human-powered stages and lighting? 

With thousands of people coming to the area for an event, there are obvious impacts from travel. Vehicles release greenhouse gas emissions as well as air pollution and create traffic and congestion which affect local people. Our focus is to do all that we can to encourage visitors to use public transport, walk and cycle and for event teams and vendors to use low carbon transport wherever possible. 

What you must do as an event organiser:  

• Promote environmentally friendly modes of transport for commuting to and from all our events including public transport, bike and walking routes.
• Ensure your waste collection companies optimise delivery and collection times and routes to minimise transport impacts, congestion and noise nuisance.
• Ask your larger entertainment providers to deliver their services using low carbon vehicles. 
• If vehicles are needed during the event management preparations, strive to employ the use of low emissions or all electric vehicles where possible. 
• Event hosts running large events, must provide a Travel Management Plan which should demonstrate how you will minimise the impacts from travel. 
• All mobile street traders must have an electric vehicle if they are required to keep an engine running when stationary as part of their business.

Ideas to reduce transport impacts: 

• Could you provide bike parking at the event or consider a bike valet service?
• Could you provide a shuttle service between train stations, bus stops, hotels, etc?
• Could you offer incentives to patrons who opt for sustainable transport to attend your event?

Event promotion uses natural resources like paper and plastics for brochures, flyers and banners, but also can include single-use giveaway items. Thousands of promotional items can be manufactured for one event adding to waste as well as transport impacts of moving them around. We hope to set a good example by limiting the amount of ‘stuff’ produced and if give-away items are chosen, ensuring they serve an on-going practical purpose to the end user, are environmentally friendly and are likely to be used for a long time.

Ideas to reduce promotion impacts:      

• Ensure all event information is available online, reducing the need for printed brochures and flyers. 
• When essential, use 100% recycled paper products and inks to produce paper-based materials.
• Reuse any promotional products such as banners and signage, between events by keeping out specific dates and locations.
• Minimise the usage of non-reusable items (for example promotional flyers) and maximise those that are reusable (for example reusable banners and signs).
• Utilise promotional methods that do not involve printed products (e.g. online, radio, television, social media).
• Use e-ticketing options where possible.
• Promote the actions you have taken to reduce your environmental impacts to attendees and vendors. 

Goods sold or given away at public events are often made of plastic and have often travelled long distances before being put to use. Often these items are used for a short period of time before being thrown away. 

Events use water for drinking, cleaning and sanitary purposes. We need to make sure that our events do not waste water or impact natural water bodies or supplies.

What you must do as an event organiser: 

• Prohibit the sale of plastic or foil balloons (biodegradable balloons are okay).
• Prohibit the deliberate release of balloons, even biodegradable balloons.  
• Prohibit the sale of products using animal fur unless they are a by-product of the food industry. 
• Prohibit the sale of any live or dead animals, insects, reptiles including taxidermy (e.g. Insect key chains, stuffed animals). This does not include fossils.
• Prohibit the use or sale of glitter that is not biodegradable. 

Ideas to reduce impacts from resource use:   

• Could you ask street cleaning contractors to employ water efficient equipment?
• Could you include a requirement for water wise toilets and hand basins, and waterless urinals in hire agreements?
• Can you encourage traders to provide products that serve an on-going practical purpose to the end user, are environmentally friendly and are likely to be used for a long time. Environmentally preferable items have minimal packaging; are recyclable or biodegradable; are durable and likely to be used for a long time; or are directly beneficial to wildlife/nature (e.g. a seed bomb).
• If you are having anything built bespoke for your event, can you ask for reclaimed, reused or sustainably sourced materials to be used and design it for reuse or recycling?

What you must do as an event organiser:  

• The use of fireworks are prohibited with the exception of events approved by the Council (e.g. Fireworks night) and pyrotechnic displays used on stages as a theatrical accessory. 

We strongly advise event organisers to: 

• Consider the use of lasers and drone displays. 

These links do not constitute recommendations, and nor do any companies here have the status of 'preferred suppliers'. SADC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Nevertheless we hope these links are useful to you. If you know of any other suppliers of products or services that could help make events more sustainable, please let us know by emailing events@stalbans.gov.uk.

Vision 2025 is the work of events industry professionals committed to reducing the impact of the events industry on the environment. Their website lists suppliers and resources and offers interesting case-studies that you may find useful. 

This company provides sustainable waste-compacting solutions for events.