Why I don't like reusable cups at music festivals
Turning a personal frustration into a recipe for optimising happiness
I live in Belgium. Music festivals unite our country, just like our shared love for French fries with mayonnaise.
In the past two years, a lot of festivals introduced reusable cups for serving drinks:
And I don’t think this is a good idea.
Problem 1: The deposit
For each drink that you buy, they charge a deposit for the cup. At Gent Jazz, for example, this deposit was two euros (≈ 2 USD). This means that if you want to give a round of beers in your group of five friends, that will cost you an additional 10 EUR.
At some festivals like Best Kept Secret, you get a token in return for bringing back cups. These tokens can only be used as new deposit. So by buying beer, you’re basically downgrading your money to tokens that can only be used to purchase a specific thing (cups).
I don’t think it is necessary to charge a deposit. Most festivals take place in enclosed places, where exits are controlled. Just forbid people to take cups with them outside the festival area?
Problem 2: They annoy my left buttock
As a result of heavy deposits, you want to hold on tight to your empty cups. Usually I put them in the back pocket of my trousers. They barely fit, but it’s better than holding them in my hands for the duration of the concert.
Even there, in my back pocket, they annoy me. They take some comfort away from what might be a perfect concert experience otherwise.
The alternative? Belgium has a native species called “cup gatherer” that thrives on music festivals. They pass through the crowd and will gladly take your throwaway cup - because they get rewarded with a drink voucher for every 20 cups. But nobody is willing to give away their two euro reusable cup to these guys for free…
Problem 3: They might not be saving the planet
In my head, reusable cups are being used because they are the obvious environmental choice. But is that true?
An in depth study from 2020, commissioned by the Dutch government (our neighbours) had a mixed conclusion about reusable cups. It says that hard cups (reusable) are not always favoured over soft cups (non-reusable), but that it depends on the specifics of the festival or event. For any event, the trade-off has to be reconsidered.
Important elements in the trade-off include:
Impact of the washing process for hard cups (expressed in GWP)
Estimated percentage of lost hard cups
Percentage of soft cups that will be recycled
Material used for the soft cups
The following image summarises what impacts this trade-off most:
In the report, they show four examples of this trade-off for different events. Two scenarios favour the hard cups, two the soft cups. So reusable does not always mean better for the environment.
Meanwhile, the Belgian government made reusable cups mandatory for large music festivals. Some events got a one-time exception this summer, but very likely they will have to comply next year.
The real problem: It’s a business model
Festivals make money off reusable cups. Every cup that you lose, is two euros of extra revenue - unless someone else picks it up and claims your deposit. This gives a bad incentive to festivals.
Often, festivals have recycle points: places where you can exchange your cups for deposit. This is usually the last stop you make before going home. In my experience, these recycle points are often 1) understaffed, causing huge queues and 2) few in number, making it hard to find one. It doesn't seem optimised to make returning cups easy.
Reclaiming the deposit in real euros is also hard. Festivals like Best Kept Secret use tokens (see above) to symbolise deposit, and they cannot be converted back to euros. Other festivals like Horst (2022) put the deposit back on your payment card that you use throughout the festival. They charge 1 EUR to send your remaining balance back after the festival. A friend of mine went to the Lokerse Feesten on day 1, and could only reclaim her deposit after the festival, 8 days later. Getting back your deposit is not designed to be convenient.
I have to praise the Gentse Feesten for their smooth handling of deposit. You could get your deposit back at every bar, no need for special recycling points. And the best thing: they would put the money straight on your bank card. The only thing they did terribly wrong was having at least three types of reusable cups, that could not be used interchangeably.
How should it be done, then?
Is there a use case for reusable cups? Yes. But only if they fit your objective. Don't choose it as a hidden business model to make money.
If your objective is 100% being environmentally friendly, calculate a proper trade-off between throwaway (soft) and reusable (hard) cups, as explained in the Dutch study.
If you decide to go with reusable cups, use the following recipe to optimise happiness:
The reusable cup recipe
Don’t charge a deposit
Make recycle points with rewards for collecting cups (e.g. 20 cups = 1 drink)
Make these well staffed, and opened until the festival closes
Festival organisers, how does that sound?