Electric Picnic adopts radical policy on single-use vapes to protect Laois land

Thousands of single-use vapes littered the site of the Electric Picnic in Stradbally during the 2022 edition in Laois and now the organisers have decided to clamp down on the use of the throwaway devices.

Many ended up being walked into the site where the festival is staged in Stradbally hall creating a clean up headache but also polluting the fields around Stradbally Hall.

Festival Republic says disposable vapes are made of a mixed compound of materials making them very difficult to recycle and and hazardous if not placed in the correct waste stream.

As a consequence, the organisers have decided on a ban.

"Electric Picnic has taken a decision to add single-use disposable vapes to the list of prohibited items in order to protect the land that the Festival site is on," say the organisers.

Vapes have added to the already huge task of cleaning up after Picnicers in Stradbally.

In Friends of the Earth estimated in 2018 that 10 kgs of waste per visitor would be expected after the event. Empty beer cans, food packaging, chairs, inflatable mattresses, clothes, and tents are discarded in huge quantities. 

While efforts have been made to collect tents and sleeping bags for the homeless, most end up bulldozed and sent to dumps or incinerators.

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For their part, EP say they are committed to reducing the environmental impact which they add is assessed annually by Julie’s Bicycle, a not-for-profit organisation working on sustainability within the creative industries, as part of their Creative Green certification.  They claim that in 2019 the Picnic "achieved an incredible 5/ 5 stars". 

The organisers say they are also proud to be one of the Vision: 2025 Festival’s committed to reducing our carbon emissions.