''We really appreciate this award. Not only are our environment initiatives acknowledged by the outside world - hopefully the award will help to stress the importance of taking care of our environment. We hope that other festivals and events are encouraged to protect the environment even more," says festival director Henrik Rasmussen who will be in Cannes to receive the award.

In 2007 Roskilde Festival also received the European Festival Association, Yourope's environment award Green'n'Clean.

Own environment group
Since the early 90s, Roskilde Festival has worked with environment issues. Waste sorting was an initiative that was quickly adopted in the festival system. For instance, the festival introduced organically decomposable tableware - widely known as forks and knives made of maize starch, that were edible in principal.

Today a group of festival volunteers focuses on environmental issues. They analyse and evaluate where the festival can make an effort or improve existing efforts.

Some of the successful initiatives are:

* Refund system - To ensure optimal clear-up of all drinking cups the festival has a refund system. The system is so efficient that about 97 % of the plastic cups sold from the beverage stalls are returned to the refund stalls.

* Beer for garbage ­- During the past years, the festival has made a competition where the audience collects garbage for beer. It has resulted in tonnes of garbage cleared from the camping area by the audience.

* Donation of camping equipment - In the last days of the festival the audience can donate recyclable camping equipment and sleeping bags. The collected items are donated to charitable organisations.

* Sale of organic and fair trade products - The festival sells many organic and fair trade products, e.g. coffee, tea, sugar and dairy. This year's festival T-shirt is made of organic cotton from a certified fair trade production.

Focus on climate changes
Roskilde Festival does not rest on ist laurels but continues working on reducing the festival's environmental impact. Moreover, the festival continues to put global issues on the agenda.

During the next two years, focus is on climate changes. The festival will start a number of projects in collaboration with companies, universities and NGO's to focus on one of the world's greatest challenges in the world.