Plastic bottles banned from Hebridean music festival

● Extra water stations to be installed as part of eco-friendly drive

reduce its environmental impact at a major industry awards earlier this year.

The event, which is currently sponsored by the firm Lewis Wind Power, has had a ban on plastic straws in place since 2014 and introduced reusable eco-cups to its arena. Around 1,600 tickets are sold for the four-day event, which is worth more than £2.2 million for the economy.

It emerged last month that Glastonbury organisers were looking at banning “singleuse” plastic bottles when the event returns from its hiatus next year.

The Hydro arena in Glasgow recently announced a ban on plastic straws after the indierock band Mogwai staged its

0 The Hebcelt festival in Stornoway, which axed plastic straws in 2014, has now banned plastic bottles first “waste free show”. Hebcelt director Caroline Maclenann said: “We’re proud of our success at recycling and minimising waste on the site, and the recent focus on plastics has prompted us to see what else we can do to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated.

“The extra measures will not only reduce the amount of plastic being processed but will also help to keep the site clear of litter and therefore more pleasant for festivalgoers.

“The success of these actions is dependent on the goodwill of our visitors, the willingness of our vendors to participate in green initiatives and the sterling efforts of our ‘green team’, who strive so hard to keep the festival site clean and tidy.

“We’ve been hugely encouraged by the willingness of festival-goers to take part in these initiatives over the years and are confident they will support the plastics ban as the next stage in the process.”

Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “I welcome Hebcelt’s steps to ban single use plastic items.

“It’s good to see communi- ties and organisations across Scotland taking steps to help change Scotland’s throwaway culture and I would encourage other organisations to follow Hebcelt’s example and consider what they can do to reduce single use plastics.”