How New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Embraces Sustainability in The Big Easy

New Orleans, a city that's more than 300 years old, is steeped in culture and rich history.

It sits on a sliver of dry land at the foot of the Mississippi River, which creates challenges when it comes to waste collection and transfer, especially with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. What started in 1970 as a 350-person celebration of culture and music has grown exponentially to more than 460,000 attendees in 2023. Jazz Fest recently achieved Gold Certification fro the Council for Responsible Sport for its social, environmental, economic and community efforts. 

Josh Fleig, VP of business development for economic development engine Greater New Orleans Inc., recently told Waste360 about how sustainability is an integral part of the annual event.

"We have to be very conscious about waste and how we process waste, how we use and how we reuse simply because of our geography," he explained, speaking about the city of New Orleans. "We have coastal restoration and protection issues because of the levee system out into the Gulf of Mexico, and that silt not backfilling into our marshes and coastal land loss. So, when we think about sustainability,  it's not just about it's not about waste and recycling, but it's also about the preservation of our land."

The festival is held each year at the Fair Grounds Race Course, a site that has been in operation since 1872, The historical nature of the location makes sustainable efforts imperative.

"Mission number one is making sure that we're you know, we're not devastating that piece of land the rest of the year because it's in commerce the rest of the year, and they run horse races throughout the year," Fleig explained. "There are other events as well beyond horse races that are community-led and driven. [Jazz Fest] programming takes place on the same piece of land in the middle of the city. It's important, when considering the impact of a seven-day festival, that the land can be repaired quickly so that we can put that park back in use."

The 2023 event racked up 17.56 metric tons of recycling diverted from landfill and 4.37 metric tons of food waste composted. With dozens of vendors and hungry participants, food preparation waste also is addressed. Fleig indicated that more than 2,500 gallons of cooking oil were converted into fuel for local shrimping boats, which is part of an overarching effort to achieve a circular economy in New Orleans.

The 1.13 million tons of hard-to-recycle plastics collected at Jazz Fest were shipped to a Nexus facility in Atlanta, an effort in conjunction with event sponsor Shell's Plastics Circularity Project.

Jazz Fest's efforts reach far behind waste and recycling. The NOLA Supplier Impact Program "strengthens the business sustainability and continuity of Black Female Suppliers in the Greater New Orleans area, focused on increased understanding of how to maintain business continuity and sustainability even in times of uncertainty and provide productive networking and increased connections within the Women's Business community."

Fleig said that efforts to divert waste and create a more circular system for Jazz Fest and the city couldn't be achieved without relationships between event partners, sponsors, suppliers and the community.

"There are a couple components to this," he explained. "There's getting actually running the operations of recycling. It's also working with the community to understand that it's happening. I'll give a lot of credit to the Jazz and Heritage Foundation for working on that throughout the year - working with local partners and suppliers and vendors to educate them. That's a never-ending work in progress."

He continued: "We want people to understand that this is a sustainable event and that we're continuing to work on reducing its impact on the environment. But, there are also opportunities right from a vendor perspective to use some of these recycled materials, or a partner hasn't been there, to help service some of the sustainability efforts. So, it's a constant grassroots effort by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and AEG to help with those outputs."

While sustainability and Jazz Fest go hand-in-hand, the event is part of a broader initiative in transition New Orleans into a more circular system. The city previously reported it plans to further capture and leverage offshore wind turbines and create a Green Hydrogen hub. Development company St.Charles Clean Fuels also announced a $4.6 Billion investment into an ammonia production and export facility.

As for future efforts, Fleig indicated: "I think we're on the right path in terms of making sure that less stuff ends up in a landfill and it's put to good use, and that there's a path for it - whether it's cooking oil or trash, papers or plastics. But I think continuing to double down on investments with local vendors and nonprofits who can help with the recycling, the waste reduction and sustainability is a big piece."