An army of workers today (Mon) began the back-breaking task of removing an estimated 1,650 tonnes of waste from Glastonbury Festival – including 5,000 abandoned tents.
With the party officially over, campers had until 5pm today (Mon) to leave the farm and allow the clean-up operation to get into full swing.
A litter picking crew of around 800 will spend up to six weeks clearing the 1,200-acre site, which has been left carpeted in rubbish.
An estimated 11 tonnes of clothes and camping gear will be abandoned, including 6,500 sleeping bags, 5,500 tents, 3,500 airbeds, 2,200 chairs, 950 rolled mats and 400 gazebos.
It is thought that the festival organisers will spend around £780,000 collecting the rubbish from across the site.
It is expected that volunteers will sift through around nine tonnes of glass, 54 tonnes of cans and plastic bottles, 41 tonnes of cardboard, and 66 tonnes of scrap metal.
Nearly 200 tonnes of composted organic waste is also removed from the site throughout the five day festival, which was this year attended by 175,000 people.
The fields of Worthy Farm will then be returned to grazing dairy cows.
Tractors carrying magnetic strips will travel across the site to pick up tent pegs while workers will carry out a fingertip search to make sure no inch of the land goes unchecked.
Workers will be extra cautious of stray tent pegs as cows grazing the site have died in previous years after eating them.
It is thought the clear up could last around six weeks, before the land can be restored to a working dairy farm.
A spokesperson for the festival said (Mon): “Thank you to everyone who has tidied their camping pitch and taken everything home. We really do appreciate it.”
