While the thousands of visitors to this year’s London Oktoberfest got stuck in to authentic German beer and food, as well as finding time to listen to live music and enjoy the ambience of the festival, the event posed different challenges for the environmentally friendly waste collection and recycling services specialist, Waste King.

Waste King was responsible for waste collection and recycling at the manifestation of this year’s event in Gadebridge Park, Hemel Hempstead.

Oktoberfest events take place around the UK. The London Oktoberfest event ran from Thursdays to Sundays throughout October – first, for a fortnight, in Millwall Park and then, for a further two further weeks, in Finsbury Park. London Oktoberfest, which began in 2011, takes place in specially erected giant tents and now attracts over 50,000 visitors.

“Waste King Rubbish Clearance provides a range of specialised event waste management services to help organisers with the clean-up process,” said Waste King’s Operations Director, Andy Cattigan. “With a heavy focus these days on recycling and saving the environment, we’re particularly careful to ensure that all our services have options to help reduce the resulting waste we send to landfill.

“We’re careful to ensure we recycle as much as possible,” he continued. “We’re aware of the impact our waste has on the planet, so we strive to be as green as we can!

“We provide a combination of mixed recycling and general waste provision to help festival visitors be more mindful of the litter they’re producing. Moreover, our facilities allow event organisers to divert more of their event waste from landfill, helping them to not only reduce their carbon footprint but also to lower their costs.

“A great amount of work goes into organising and planning various aspects of any event – especially one that attracts as many visitors as Oktoberfest,” commented Glenn Currie, Waste King’s Managing Director.

“Our professional team of waste management operatives work with event organisers to plan the appropriate waste management scenario for your event, from providing waste bins for visitors to use, through to litter-picking once everyone’s gone home.

“It’s important that, where waste is concerned, we consider the environment and have the proper waste management tools in place to handle the rubbish and recycling generated throughout the event,” he added. “Our regular services include providing waste stations for public use, skip hire, litter-picking, waste collection and even hazardous and clinical waste management options.

“However, Oktoberfest is probably one of the most environmentally friendly events from a recycling point of view.

“Visitors to Oktoberfest seem to prefer to buy a stein, two-pint, plastic jug to use throughout their time at the festival. Consequently, we don’t have to deal with lots of plastic pint cups being left over – and that makes our life easier when it comes to recycling the waste that the festival produces,” he said.