Volunteers’ recycling drive at BunkFest gets massive public response

08 Sep 2006

Music fans who attended this year’s BunkFest folk festival in Wallingford were in tune with a brand new recycling enterprise that was inaugurated at this year’s event.

An enthusiastic response to the initiative from festival-goers meant that 77% of the waste collected was recycled.

Three recycling stations were placed around the festival site as well as containers for plastic beer glasses at the beer tent and the Cross Keys pub. Three bottle banks were provided for glass.

Sustainable Wallingford volunteers led by Brian Landowski and supported by the Community Action Group project and Oxfordshire County Council set up the recycling stations and emptied the bins at regular intervals.

Helping to draw attention to their efforts was the tall, costumed figure of Recycling Ricky. Litter picks were also undertaken by the Wallingford scout group.

Community Action Group coordinator Hannah Moser said: “I was surprised how well people had done at separating their rubbish. Even at 9.30 on Saturday night there were still cans in the can bin, plastic cups in the plastic bin and paper in the paper bin. I am really proud of the people involved in this scheme and delighted by the level of commitment from the general public and their interest in the recycling scheme. It was so great to see people thinking about what they would do with their rubbish and to me this event has shown just how well people respond to recycling when they are given the right facilities, opportunity and good information!”

Brian Landowski, Bunkfest recycling scheme coordinator said: “I really think the message got across. The advertising campaign and the whole way we approached it worked. I think a lot of people took it on board; I had some amazing reactions from people. Kids were collecting cans to crush and really wanting to take part. I think it’s just amazing. I’m flabbergasted by the amount of waste collected for recycling and the number of people who used the bins. It just goes to show people can recycle well if they’re given the right facilities."

Following the success of this scheme, Oxfordshire County Council and the Community Action Group project are looking to find other festivals and volunteers who want to replicate this idea.

For more information about the Community Action Group project please contact Hannah Moser on 01865 815871 or 077930647190 or visit their web-site .

Pictures supplied courtesy of Oxfordshire County Council. Photographer: Mark Bassett