Reducing Plastic Waste In 2O2O!
There will be no plastic bottles given out on Midsummer Common or from the first Drink Station on course. Those of you happy to run with a reusable bottle please bring it along and fill it up from the event village, drink station 1 and the finish area.
We understand that not everyone wants to run with a bottle so we have been researching the plastic vs compostable debate, which is a very tricky one. Extremely well summed up in this article written for Varsity by Verner Viisainen in November last year.
The technology does not currently exist in Cambridgeshire to correctly treat a compostable cup. It goes into a ‘compost-like’ high heat aerobic environment that reduces the mass of the material by approximately 50% over a two month period. The resulting end product is then landfilled as a near-inert and dry material which produces minimal gases (methane) which can then be captured for use.
Therefore, those of you without a reusable bottle will be offered a plastic cup. We have assurances from our refuse partners that ‘closed loop recycling’ will be employed meaning 100% of the cup is recycled, they will not go to landfill and they will not end up in our oceans.
Depending on the success of this trial we will then remove plastic bottles from the other drink stations moving forward. As technology develops we will once again revisit our options making sure we make the right decisions for the right reasons. With your help we can make a difference.
Keep an eye on our Sustainability page, as we strive to improve our social and environmental performance we’ll keep you updated with our new initiatives. If you have any ideas please get in touch via info@osbevents.com.