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DGTL: World’s first circular festival

Last updated: Mar 3, 2023

Summary

The DGTL festival in Amsterdam aims to be the first fully circular festival in the world. DGTL considers its festival terrain as a living lab for circular innovation in neighbourhoods and cities and partners with the City of Amsterdam and the Central Government to take on urban challenges—from food, mobility and waste to energy and water—to demonstrate best practices and to trial new innovations. [1] [2]

Solution

Some of the past innovations used at the festival include:

- A solely vegetarian menu, sourced from surplus food from local supermarkets and restaurants

- Biodegradable plates and cutlery that are converted into compost within 24 hours. This compost was then distributed among participating urban farmers who use it for the cultivation of products, which are then used as ingredients for the following year.

- Ecological composting toilets

- A collaboration with PureWaste and RePack to promote more circular fashion production and consumption practices. PureWaste produces garments made of 100% recycled textiles, whereas RePack enables online shoppers to return their packaging for reuse.

- An ecological currency (the ‘Eco Coin’), [3] which encouraged participants to participate in sustainable projects at the festival

- The festival is also committed to renewable energy and trialled a new green heating system in 2019.

Outcome

Impact

Compared to 2017, DGTL visitors cut their waste in half in 2018. The festival was also able to achieve large emissions reductions from energy use—from 70 to 15 tonnes of CO2eq between 2018 and 2019. The adoption of the Eco Coin scheme alone allowed to reduce 5,000 kg of Co2eq. Most of all, the festival serves as a shining example of how events can act as living labs that enable early and continuous involvement of users for co-creation and experimentation of solutions addressing the challenges of climate change, resilience and urban sustainability. [4]