A large sculpture which depicts a washing machine vomiting thousands of pieces of laundry plastic has been unveiled in Birmingham’s Centenary Square.
Commissioned by Smol, the ‘Sick of Plastic’ sculpture was created by eco-artist Sarah Turner in a bid to bring attention to the amount of waste that is unrecycled from Birmingham’s households.
Made from 3,229 pieces of recycled laundry plastic, the sculpture hopes to ‘revolutionise’ the laundry industry and inspire the people of Birmingham to use plastic-free alternatives.
While the city has been cited as one of the UK’s worst recyclers, the UK laundry industry is responsible for sales of 110 million laundry packs each year.
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“I’m delighted to collaborate with Smol, whose values and ethics align with my own- having utilised materials which are causing the most environmental damage in my work,” eco-artist Sarah Turner said. “Together, we want to draw attention to the problem and inspire the public to make a small change in their day to day, to make a positive impact.”
Smol chief marketing officer Hilary Strong added: “People are well aware of the need to reduce their waste, but few dwell on laundry – one of those things that we all have to buy and use, and a huge generator of single-use plastic waste.
“At Smol, we’re proud of pioneering the UK’s first 100% plastic-free laundry capsule packaging; if the people of Birmingham alone made the switch, we’d prevent over 1 million packs ending up in landfill every single year.
“The creation of this sculpture is a bold statement about our commitment to the environment and our belief that with just small changes like switching brand, we can all make a difference. We hope that it will inspire others to join us in the fight against plastic waste.’’
The campaign – supported by PR agency Fanclub – will also aid the charity, Surfers Against Sewage, by donating £5,000 to support the charity’s ‘Plastic-Free Communities’ work in the city.
