About 580 kilograms of recyclable waste and 32,000 food containers and cutlery were diverted from landfill during the Coogee Live festival in Western Australia.
The two-day event in March 2023, recruited 20 food truck and bar vendors who pledged not to supply food and drinks in single-use plastic products, opting for reusable dishware and cutlery supplied by Go2Cups, or compostable containers.
With the help of six waste sorting stations, festivalgoers diverted waste into bins for reusable dishes and cutlery for washing, and other items for composting, donation, recycling or general waste.
The stations replaced the 80 rubbish and recycling bins usually found along a 1.5-kilometre stretch of Coogee Beach and coastal reserve for the duration of the weekend festival.
Free water stations, enabling people to refill their own water bottles, also helped reduce the purchase of drinks in single-use plastic.
Maryline Cassou, City of Cockburn Waste Education Co-ordinator, said the volumes of reuse recorded at Coogee Live was unprecedented for events with food trucks in Western Australia.
“This means we’re on the right track and that the community is receptive to methods that help them reuse, recover and recycle, and reduce the unnecessary disposal of items in landfill,” Cassou said.
Brittany Cover, City of Cockburn Head of Library and Cultural Services, said the council’s events team had learned a lot from the 2023 festival, with improvements that can be made for future city events.
“Coogee Live was also a carbon neutral event. This means carbon emissions released because of the event, from things like patron travel, food consumption and onsite generators, were offset by the city investing in planting mixed native trees and shrubs throughout the state,” Cover said.
The council partnered with St Patrick’s Community Support Centre which collected the contents of dedicated Containers for Change bins. The proceeds of 2098 recyclable containers went towards specialist support services for people facing homelessness.
Sustainable service consultancy, WRITE Solutions, collected about 400 kilograms of compostable containers and food waste, filling 15, 240-litre bins with raw material for transformation into garden compost products.
Logan Howlett, Mayor of City of Cockburn, said the council was one of the first local governments in WA to use Go2Cups reusable dishware at its events. The city began partnering with Go2Cups in 2018 when it made the decision to remove disposable coffee cups from all its events, saving an estimated 10,000 coffee cups from landfill to date.
The City WasteWise Events Policy adheres to the WA Plan for Plastics and the WA Waste Authority’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030.
For more information, visit: www.cockburn.wa.gov.au
Related stories
City of Charles Sturt trials weekly FOGO collection
International Compost Awareness Week focus on healthy soils
