Disposable Cups Could Cost Belgian Festival Millions
When the electronic music festival Tomorrowland finished in Belgium on July 28, some of the festivalgoers had sore heads after a lot of partying.
But the festival organizers may have a much bigger headache to deal with.
Officials in Belgium say that the organizers could be given a big fine for using disposable cups — not reusable ones — to serve drinks.
According to reports online, the fine could be more than $2 million.
By law, large events like festivals have to serve drinks using either reusable cups, or cans and bottles that can be recycled.
That's for environmental reasons and it has been the law since 2023.
However, Tomorrowland already had about 3 million disposable cups left over from previous festivals, the organizers said.
So they said that it was better for the environment to use these disposable cups first, instead of throwing them away.
Some reusable cups were also used at the festival.
Earlier in 2024, the festival asked for permission to use disposable cups because it didn't have space at the festival site to wash reusable cups. But Belgian officials didn't give them permission.
Organizers say they will pay any fine they are given and will make a plan to use reusable cups next year.
According to The Brussels Times, they may even be given an extra fine because of the money they were able to save by not buying reusable cups.
This could be more than $1.6 million, Euronews reported.
Tomorrowland first took place in 2005 in Belgium. This year it took place over two weekends in July, with 400,000 people from around the world enjoying the music.
