Managing Waste at Entertainment Venues

You’ve enjoyed a film or show and are getting your coat ready in preparation to head home. The likelihood is that, as a spectator, you won’t spare cleaning up the cinema or theatre a second thought, but waste management is an important concern for the owners and manager of entertainment venues.

We live in a society that produces a lot of waste, but simultaneously claims to be conscious of the environment and it is important for the people in charge of waste management and distribution to bear the impact of their business on the environment in mind.

If you’ve ever stayed behind for a little while after a viewing or a theatre production and you’ve seen the room when the lights come up, you’ll probably have noticed that there tends to be litter strewn all over the seats and floor and cups, wrappers and used tickets lining the aisles. Everyone wants to sit in a clean seat and enjoy their cinema experience without any worries about harming the environment, so how can entertainment venues employ the most efficient and environmentally friendly measures to clear waste away and ensure everyone enjoys their time at the cinema?

Dealing with food and drink waste and promoting recycling

Recycling is big news these days and most cinemas and theatres comply with recycling guidelines set out by their local authority. Waste is divided up into different categories, including paper and cardboard, food and general waste. Collections are made on a regular basis and the day and frequency of collection depends on the area in which you live. Some entertainment venues may also use independent waste management services as they produce a large amount of waste and require more frequent collections and larger waste facilities.

If you find that there is always a huge amount of popcorn lying around or people are leaving half-eaten boxes of it in their seats, it may be worth reducing the portion size and the cost accordingly to reduce food waste. In some cases, even the smallest option constitutes a very large serving.

You can encourage customers to adhere to your waste management policies and promote environmentally friendly measures by providing litter bins and bins that offer separate compartments for recyclable items such as plastic bottles, paper cups and popcorn holders. Used tickets can also be placed in paper recycling bins provided. Placing bins directly outside the doors is usually most effective.

Another option to reduce waste is to promote e-tickets, which are delivered by email or sent via text message to save paper and eliminate the customer’s last-minute scramble to find their theatre tickets at home. When getting ready to go and watch a play at the theatre, the last thing you want to worry about is trying to locate tickets you were sent in the post months ago and haven’t seen since. With new technology, all you need to do is show the usher your phone.