Re-turn named official sustainability partners for Electric Picnic 2026

Re-turn has been announced as the Official Sustainability Partner of Electric Picnic 2026, reinforcing the festival's commitment to sustainability by making it easier for festival-goers to return drinks containers, increasing recycling infrastructure across the site and helping ensure valuable materials are kept within the circular economy.

At the heart of the partnership is a simple message: don’t throw away the chance to do good. By choosing to put their can or bottle in an Orange Bin, festival-goers are helping to keep valuable materials stay in the circular economy while supporting charities, community groups and good causes across Ireland.

ORANGE BIN INITIATIVE

Through the Orange Bin initiative, every empty can and bottle becomes a donation to Return for Children – an initiative which supports six national children's charities: Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack and Chill Children's Foundation, LauraLynn Children's Hopstice and Make-A-Wish Ireland.

Also supported through the Orange Bin initiative are Meath Camogie, Killeshin GAA, Children's Books Ireland, Camross GAA and Down Syndrome Centre – so it really is a far-reaching scheme.

Last year, 545,000 drinks containers were collected during Electric Picnic and the post-event clean-up, with 12 tonnes of high-quality material diverted from general waste and sent for recycling. This year, Re-turn will work alongside the festival to increase collections through enhanced infrastructure, expanded volunteer programmes, improved consumer engagement and a stronger on-site presence for Re-turn and its Orange Bins across the festival site.

Re-turn at Electric Picnic 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

"Last year demonstrated what is possible when festival-goers, volunteers and event organisers work together," Dermot Mulligan, Chief Marketing Officer at Re-turn said. "More than half a million bottles and cans were collected at Electric Picnic. As Official Sustainability Partner, we now have an opportunity to go even further, engaging with more people, collecting more material for recycling and ensuring even greater benefits for charities, community groups and the circular economy.

"Electric Picnic is one of Ireland's most significant cultural events and provides an incredible opportunity to engage directly with people about sustainability, recycling and the circular economy. As Official Sustainability Partner, we want to make it as easy as possible for festival-goers to do the right thing while showing how small actions can collectively have a massive impact."

STRONG RESULTS

Over 400 Orange Bins will be located across the festival site, including over 120 within the campsites.  You can visit the Re-turn Exchange in the Jimi Hendrix campsite, where festival-goers can use their cans and bottles as currency in exchange for fun festival experiences.

"Sustainability is a key priority for Electric Picnic, and we’re delighted to welcome Re-turn as our Official Sustainability Partner," said festival director Melvin Benn. "Together, we have an opportunity to make an even greater impact by encouraging positive recycling behaviours, increasing the number of drinks containers collected across the festival site and helping Picnickers play an active role in the circular economy.

"Building on the strong results achieved last year, this partnership will help us continue to improve the sustainability of the festival experience while supporting charities and community groups through initiatives such as the Orange Bin programme.”

For more information on Re-turn, you can visit their website.