Hastings festival’s commitment to become free of single-use plastic cups

Hastings Fat Tuesday saw 14,000 revellers join in the celebrations across five days in 2018. Photo by Frank Copper

The event has joined forces with 247 Taxis and Plastic Free Hastings to reduce the amount of single-use plastic used as this year’s festival.

Stewart Smith from 247 Taxis, said: “247 is delighted to be working with the Fat Tuesday team bringing a vision of reusable plastic glasses to a major event in Hastings. While we are looking at this year as a trial, we would hope that between ourselves and other local companies we can build on the foundations for many years and promote events in Hastings as the leaders in reducing event plastic waste.

“Help support our vision by grabbing yourself a pint glass during Fat Tuesday.”

Hastings Fat Tuesday organisers have designed a cool, collectable and reusable cup to commemorate its 10th anniversary, in an effort to reduce its negative environmental impact.

These cups can be purchased from all the participating bars at £2 per cup. This cup can then be used in all bars as guests tour around watching all the free music around town. Once the festival is over, the cups can be taken home and used again at other events or in general, day-to-day life.

In addition to the re-usable cups, all the participating pubs will be using compostable plastic cups as back up.

As there is not an industrial compost site in the South East, the compostable cups will be incinerated – but they won’t release a noxious gas as other plastics do, according to the event’s organisers.

A spokesman for Hastings Fat Tuesday said: “This is just the start, we would like to see all other Hastings events and festivals use this same model in order to really reduce our single-use plastics.

“Eventually we would like to see reusable cups used all year round in all our pubs.”

Hastings Fat Tuesday will run from March 1 to March 5. For all the latest news and updates, including the full line-up, visit hastingsfattuesday.co.uk.