London festivals achieve Greener Festival sustainability certifications

BST Hyde Park in Westminster has been awarded A Greener Future’s Greener Festival highly commended certification while Victoria Park’s All Points East has been accredited in the commended category.

The two, which make up AEG Europe’s London festival series, have featured acts such as Stevie Nicks, Andrea Bocelli, and Loyle Carne.

This year’s editions were said to be the most sustainable yet, with several new initiatives contributing to minimising their environmental impact.

“BST Hyde Park was notable this year for its efforts to reduce impact through onsite baling of waste, which in turn reduced the impact from vehicles required for transport from site,” said AGF senior assessor Natasha Wales-Dixon.

“The improvements made to sorting and compacting waste locally to the site were considered very impressive by AGF assessors and was noted to decrease the impact of the event significantly. These efforts were coupled with excellent communication to the teams onsite, including contractors and volunteers, related to their understanding of why waste segregation is so important and the role they play in it.

“In addition to the waste segregation, BST Hyde Park implemented a food grading system which analyses the carbon impact of meals served onsite, and whilst in its infancy, this will undoubtedly evolve and offer further improvements in coming years.”

AGF is the founder of the world’s first sustainability standard for festivals and events.

In order to achieve certifications, festivals are assessed on areas of sustainability including transport, energy and power, waste, water usage, local environment, CO2, and food and beverages.

“Achieving certification from A Greener Future is more than just a milestone for us; it’s a commitment to our fans, our artists, and the communities we serve,” said AEG Presents’ European Festivals division chief executive Jim King.

“Our fans have always shown us that they care deeply about sustainability, and by meeting these rigorous standards, we’re honouring not only our values, but theirs. I’m incredibly proud of what our team has achieved.”