Smukfest deploys reusable tents to reach 90 percent recycling

Smukfest is introducing 220 reusable tents made from recycled plastic as it seeks to recycle 90 percent of its waste by 2029, DR reports.

The ReTents, which are designed to be used year after year, are replacing some of the ordinary festival tents at the camping area. The move is part of the festival’s effort to prevent camping equipment from becoming waste after the seven day event in the beech forest.

Smukfest generated 1,826 tonnes of waste last year. With around 60,000 guests and 18,000 volunteers, that amounts to approximately 23 kilograms of waste per participant.

The festival’s recycling rate rose from 65 percent in 2022 to 79 percent in 2025. It aims to reach 90 percent by 2029.

“We have focused particularly on the carbon emissions from camping equipment, where guests bring tents and chairs, use them for one festival and leave them behind as waste,” Smukfest sustainability coordinator Cathrine Christensen told DR.

Smukfest bought 5,930 ordinary tents in 2024. That number has fallen to 4,100 in 2026, and the festival wants to reduce it further in the coming years. The reusable plastic shelters are intended eventually to replace the cheap festival tents bought for guests.

“My hope is that we will get a great many ReTents and get rid of the tents we buy for guests every year,” Christensen said.

However, the festival’s total waste has increased from 1,513 tonnes in 2022 to 1,826 tonnes last year. Christensen said this was because the festival had grown in size.

“We have become a larger festival, and therefore we also generate more waste. But we recycle more as well, which shows that the sorting works,” she said.

This year, Smukfest is also encouraging guests to take their tents and air mattresses home by helping transport camping equipment to the car park.

Thomas Budde Christensen, a lecturer at the Department of People and Technology at Roskilde University, said sustainability had become a greater priority at Danish festivals because audiences expected it.

He said reusable beer cups and ReTents would have little effect on Denmark’s total waste production, which exceeds 12 million tonnes a year, but could send an important message to festivalgoers.

According to Thomas Budde Christensen, the larger challenge is reducing the amount of waste itself, rather than simply recycling more of it.