Glastonbury 2025 Waste: The Towens Skip Count

Written by Nick Towens

How Many Towens Skips Would It Take to Clean Up After Glastonbury 2025

In just a matter of weeks, the world’s biggest music festival is set to descend on the Somerset countryside once again.

On Friday night, ‘The Sound’ of The 1975 will echo across Worthy Farm as they take the stage, setting the tone for a huge weekend. Then, on Sunday fans will be ‘Obsessed’ that Olivia Rodrigo will bring Glastonbury 2025 to a close with her Pyramid Stage debut, two years after her unforgettable Other Stage performance. But as the final notes fade and the crowds head home, they won’t be leaving without a trace…

Indeed, the Glastonbury aftermath is always a sight to behold, with around 2,000 tonnes of waste expected to be generated from the 47^th edition of the Pilton pilgrimage.

Of course, given the environmental consequences of such an event, it’s important that the waste is disposed of in an appropriate manner. At Towens, we offer skip-hire services and are incredibly conscious that all waste isn’t wasted, hence our innovative recycling methods.

However, the scale of the Glastonbury clean-up did get us wondering – how many Towens skips would it take to clean up after Glastonbury?

How much waste does Glastonbury create?

In recent years it’s been reported that 2,000 tonnes of waste is created from the festival – to put that into a bit of perspective, that’s the same as one and a half Clifton Suspension Bridges, six Boeing 747 jets, 400 T Rex’s, or 35,714 Shania Twain’s.

This waste largely includes food, plastic bags, disposable vapes, camping equipment, and other general litter.

Numerically, this works out to around 5,000 tents, 6,500 sleeping bags, 400 gazebos, and 54 tonnes of cans and plastic bottles.

It’s no surprise given the calibre of acts that music fans have had the pleasure of witnessing at Worthy Farm over the years – with recent star performers including Sir Elton John for his final UK show, Billie Eilish, Sir Paul McCartney, Brandon Flowers’ Killers, the Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, and Adele.

How Towens make waste sustainable

At Towens, we dispose of 50,000 tonnes of waste each year, the equivalent of 25 Glastonbury Festivals clear ups. It also equals around 50 cargo ships, 33 Clifton Suspension Bridges, or 1,250 Pyramid Stages.

Although whilst Glastonbury Festival successfully recycle around 60% of the waste they receive, at Towens our waste management team recycle, reuse, reduce, repurpose, or recover over 92% of all waste brought in by our skips.

Our philosophy is to treat waste as a resource, trying to find as many ways as possible to recycle or reuse everything that comes to us.

This reduces the impact of the waste on the environment and decreases reliance on virgin materials such as forestry products and fibre.

We’re also working closely alongside several businesses to reduce their waste and carbon footprint – with our skip hire services in Glastonbury a great way of achieving this.

Glastonbury’s Pledge

Glastonbury Festival organisers are working hard when it comes to pledging to reduce their environmental footprint, however.

They’ve put a great deal of effort into their recycling incentives and green pledge, which includes encouraging reusable cups, plates, and cutlery, as well as placing several recycling stations.

Where possible, festival attendees are encouraged to take their rubbish or leftover equipment home with them, even if it does make that campsite walk on the Monday morning feel a little heavier.

The total clean-up operation usually takes over three weeks and is aided by around 1,300 volunteers.

How many skips would the Glastonbury clean-up require?

At Towens, we offer skips in various sizes, including two-yard, four-yard, six-yard, eight-yard, and 12-yard options, with some designed for general waste, others soil and stone, and others wood.

In this case, we’ll use the 8-yard skip as an example, and work out how many it would take to remove the 2,000 tonnes of waste caused by Glastonbury.

Whilst these calculations are approximate, we translated 2,000 tonnes of waste to 10,000 cubic metres.

With each skip coming in at approximately 6.1m cubed, this works out at a dizzying 1,639 Towens skips being required for the Glastonbury clear-up.

About Towens

At Towens, we’re a lot more than a skip-hire company – although we do offer exceptional, versatile, and affordable skip hire services in the Glastonbury and wider Somerset area.

Based in Weston Super Mare near Bristol, around 30 miles from the Worthy Farm site, we provide waste management services, tipper hire, aggregates and soils from our recycled products, and much more.

Sustainability is at the heart of all we do, and as a family business for over 30 years, we’re determined to make a difference.

We’re currently in the process of creating a recycled aggregates plant in Westonzoyland, little over 20 miles from the Glastonbury Festival site near Pilton.

To get in contact, you can call our friendly customer service team on 01934 424242, or by filling out our online form.

How much waste does Glastonbury generate and how is it managed?

Glastonbury Festival leaves behind around 2,000 tonnes of waste each year, from discarded tents to food packaging. The clean-up process takes over three weeks and involves volunteers and waste management experts. Below, we answer key questions about Glastonbury’s waste impact and how Towens plays a role in sustainable waste disposal.

Question	Answer
How much waste does Glastonbury Festival produce?	Each year, Glastonbury generates approximately 2,000 tonnes of waste—equivalent to 5,000 tents, 6,500 sleeping bags, 400 gazebos, and 54 tonnes of cans and plastic bottles. This waste must be carefully collected and processed to minimise environmental harm.
How long does it take to clean up after Glastonbury?	The full clean-up operation takes over three weeks, with around 1,300 volunteers working alongside waste management teams to clear the festival site and ensure as much waste as possible is recycled or repurposed.
How many skips would it take to remove all Glastonbury’s waste?	It would take approximately 1,639 Towens 8-yard skips to remove the 2,000 tonnes of waste left behind at Glastonbury, based on estimated waste volume calculations.
What steps does Towens take to recycle festival waste?	Towens recycles, reuses, repurposes, or recovers over 92% of all waste collected, significantly reducing landfill use. Their waste management processes help conserve resources and reduce reliance on raw materials.