Glastonbury 2014 – Army of cleaners move in to clear site of thousands of tonnes of festival rubbish

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If you thought you had it bad the morning after the night before then spare a thought for the army of workers whose job it is to clean up after the Glastonbury festival.

With the party officially over, campers had until 6pm 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.

Last year 49 per cent of all the waste was recycled but organisers are aiming for 60 per cent this year.

The fields of Worthy Farm will then be returned to grazing dairy cows.

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Glastonbury 2014 - Army of cleaners move in to clear site of thousands of tonnes of festival rubbish