Venues to pilot year-long ban

A number of Belfast’s entertainment venues are piloting a scheme to remove the use of plastic cups at gigs and events in 2025.

The 12-month pilot is being driven by the Venue Sustainability Forum and supported by Visit Belfast.

The Waterfront Hall, Ulster Hall, SSE Arena, Oh Yeah Centre, Black Box, Voodoo and The MAC have all invested in the scheme and will introduce reusable cups over the coming months.

They will partner with North Down Marquees who will deliver reusable cups to venues, pick up used ones, which will be washed in a central washing facility, and redistributed.

Acting chief executive of ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall Iain Bell said: “The switch from glass to plastic remains an important health and safety concern for gigs and entertainment venues, so this is a very positive step towards a solution which addresses both safety and sustainability.”

The SSE Arena will be the first participating venue to implement the use of reusable cups from mid-January.

Group Head of Food and Beverage at The Odyssey Trust Dermot McGinn said: “We are committed to providing customers with the best experience every time while also minimising our environmental impact wherever possible.

“We are pleased to work alongside other forward-thinking venues to tackle single-use plastic waste and support a more sustainable future for entertainment in Northern Ireland.”

Director of the Black Box Kathryn McShane said the venue has “never liked using single-use cups for our standing events”.

She added that the venue have been trying to find “an alternative” for the last few years but were unable to find a “feasible” option.

Ms McShane said the “positive impact of the reusable cup scheme” for venues in the city “will be huge”.

Other venues are lined up to join the next phase of the rollout.