Visit the most sustainable music festival in the world: DGTL Amsterdam

DGTL eliminated the waste problem at this year’s edition of the festival. They effectively reduced the amount of waste per person to 93 grams in 2019 and this year they reduced it to 0. The festival featured recycling stations and a Hard Cup program which eliminated plastic waste from the site.

It’s a great program and I hope more events will follow. We all know how ugly it is with plastic cups all over the dance floor.

This year, the festival produced more energy than it needed to operate. You heard it right.

By using solar panels and tapping into a sustainably sourced power grid, the festival has eliminated the need for the diesel generators that so many festivals heavily depend on. This transition completely eliminated the need for fossil fuels throughout the weekend festival.

Instead of sucking these generators dry and leaving, they installed solar panels on the site to generate power all year round.

Visitors coming to the festival, production bringing in and setting up equipment, and artists traveling from all over the world generally generate a significant carbon footprint at any event. DGTL closely managed every detail to ensure emissions were reduced as much as possible.

They encouraged visitors to walk or bike to the festival and even went so far as to eliminate on-site parking. It’s quite daring. They caught up with a party ferry that made it possible to arrive in style

Even the production team got involved. The setup used low- and zero-emission machines and the crew was encouraged to cycle or carpool.

And the artists?

They thought about it too. They put forward more local artists to limit travel. International artists were still on view, so DGTL went a step further by replacing all fossil fuels with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). These artists stayed in Circular hotels and traveled to the festival via zero-emission electric vehicles.

DGTL even makes you feel like it makes a difference when you use the bathroom, isn’t that cool?

By taking a revolutionary, spatial approach to sanitation, DGTL has significantly reduced water waste. They worked directly with researchers, toilet suppliers and processors to develop a circular sanitation method.

With mostly dry toilets on site, they have reduced the need for water in the toilets. For the few flush toilets, they used water from a nearby river. They extract nutrients from all the waste…yes they went there and turn the waste into compost.

This is a big step for a festival of this magnitude. DGTL went all-vegetarian in 2016 and this year’s event has taken another step on the road to sustainability by offering an all-plant-based menu onsite. A plant-based menu significantly reduces carbon footprint and environmental impact. They also sourced food and produce locally to reduce emissions.

The food court also disposed of trash with reusable dishes and had a composting station for leftover food. Imagine a clean food court without all the overflowing plastic and trash, it’s something we can all hope to spread.