Giant sculpture appears in Birmingham to highlight laundry plastic issue

A huge sculpture titled ‘Sick of Plastic’, featuring a washing machine ‘vomiting’ thousands of pieces of laundry plastic, has been revealed in Birmingham’s Centenary Square to bring attention to the daily amount that ends up unrecycled, and incinerated or in landfill, from Birmingham’s households.

The sculpture has been commissioned by smol, in its ambition to revolutionise the laundry industry by offering Birmingham plastic-free alternatives which make a big difference to the environment.

Made from 3,229 pieces of recycled laundry plastic - representing the amount of unrecycled laundry plastic which ends up in landfill or incinerated every day in Birmingham alone - the sculpture is the brainchild of smol, in collaboration with Midlands artist, Sarah Turner, renowned for her work using waste materials.

The Sick of Plastic sculpture will also support the charity, Surfers Against Sewage to tackle plastic waste in Birmingham by donating £5000 to support the charity’s Plastic-Free Communities work in the city: a scheme which supports individuals, community leaders and businesses in Birmingham to reduce avoidable plastic.

The arresting sculpture uses the very same washing machine which locals may recognise from smol’s new Midlands TV advert, Sick of Plastic. smol has launched the campaign to call on the public to join its revolution by switching to sustainable alternatives, with smol having unveiled the UK’s first plastic-free laundry and dishwasher packs in 2020.

Hilary Strong, CMO of smol, said: “People are well aware of the need to reduce their plastic 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 to plastic-free, we’d prevent over 1 million plastic laundry 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.’’

www.smolproducts.com/sick-of-plastic