Christopher BarrettLive Nation Entertainment (LNE) said it has made a strategic investment, reportedly worth $5 million, in reusable cup service provider Turn Systems.
Following the deal, the world’s biggest live events promoter said it would begin rolling out reusable cups at its venues and festivals including Lollapalooza, Sea.Hear.Now, and Austin City Limits Festival. As a result LNE expects to prevent the use of more than 1 million single-use cups this year alone.
Launched in Australia and New Zealand in 2012, Turn Systems claims to have prevent more than 30m single-use cups reaching landfill via its proprietary cup capture and reuse system The process involves reusable cups, collection bins and mobile washing systems, with users encouraged to get involved via an incentive-based software offering.
LNE said a single reusable Turn cup has the potential to displace up to 100 single-use cups and can break even on its environmental impact in three uses. As the primary option for beverages at participating Live Nation events, fans will be able to easily use the return bin system in place of a traditional trash or recycling can.
At the Bonnaroo Festival in June, the reusable Turn cups were used in place of single-use plastic cups. LNE said the program was a huge success with fans returning 88% of the cups.
LNE CEO Michael Rapino said, “By investing in Turn, Live Nation is able to make events at our venues and festivals more sustainable. By rolling out real world solutions at scale we hope this helps the whole industry find solutions.”