For the past four years Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival has been committed to reducing the amount of landfill produced by the three-day event. All patrons receive a commemorative beer glass on entry meaning the event has never used single-use plastic beverage vessels. In 2019 the Festival took this further by formally banning all plastics; including compostable and single use water bottles from all public and staff areas.

In 2019, for the first time at any large-scale event in SA, the Festival also banned single use food vessels of any material, employing a reusable enamel plate system where all meals were served on a commemorative plate which has a deposit attached. That deposit can either be refunded or the plate kept. These systems represent an investment of over $100,000 from the bottom line, in one year alone, and have resulted in an extreme reduction in the output of waste to both landfill and also green waste.

The Festival introduced a formal sustainability policy with the goal of being the “most sustainable large-scale event in South Australia”, and have been benchmarking against the best sustainability policies in the industry Australia and world-wide. They are looking to achieve that goal with the adjustments made in 2019.