War On Waste

QMF's WAR ON WASTE

You've got on board with our plan to separate waste into streams, you've respected our single use plastic free policy, you've understood what we were trying to achieve and you've treated all our green team volunteers like the legends they are. For that we say thank you!

As anyone who has been to QMF will know, we live in a special place - pristine beaches, soaring sandstone cliffs and internationally recognised bays and wetlands. Queenscliff is a spectacular place to stage a music festival.

You will also be aware there's been huge changes within the waste industry which impacts on what we put in the bin.

In 2018, QMF set out to review the impact the Festival has on the environment and put in place a plan for the future. Our goal wash to divert 80% of waste generated at the Festival from landfill. We smashed it! 

2022 PLANS

This year our focus is on:

• continuing to improve waste minimisation across the festival
• introduction of solar lighting to parts of the festival site
• exploring development of a mobile event wash facility
• ongoing education and engagement with our patrons and community
• investigating ways to further reduce the festival's overall carbon footprint
• engagement with other events on developing their waste minimisation plans 
• engaging with local council and traders on broader sustainability initiatives 
• representation on the region's Event Resource Reduction and Recovery working group

2019 RESULTS 

How'd we go?
The Festival exceeded its targets, achieving a landfill diversion rate of 95% sending 178kg the equivalent of just 6.5 wheelie bins of waste to landfill!

Key stats:

• QMF achieved a 95% landfill diversion rate
• The equivalent of just 6.5 wheelie bins of waste was sent to landfill
• The festival reduced general waste by 82%
• By moving to re-usable crockery across the event, organic waste was reduced by 58%
• QMF continued to reduce the amount of soft plastics collected at the festival.
• No co-mingle (yellow lid) materials were collected, rather all materials were separated into individual recyclable streams
• QMF has turned soft plastics collected into building materials for use at the 2020 festival.
• Spare food, meals and ingredients from vendors was provided to Feed Me Bellarine and distributed to those in need across the Bellarine region.