Well... we found out how much plastic ends up as waste EVERY DAY in the UK from the industry.
Responsible for sales of 110 million* plastic laundry packs each year, the laundry industry continues to use needless single-use plastic, despite alternatives that are better for the planet being available. And with just 12% of the UK’s plastic reported to be recycled this means that over 70 million plastic laundry bottles, tubs and boxes will end up in landfill, burnt or dumped in the sea every year. Yuck.
In fact, Birmingham local authorities were recently revealed as one of the nation’s worst cities in the nation for recycling rates**, with 1,190,000 households in the city alone. Recycling systems are broken, the infrastructure isn’t there to stop plastic going to waste and moving away from this material is the only answer.
That’s why we’re sick of plastic, and why we’re bringing our TV advert to life, right in Birmingham’s city centre this May!
BIRMINGHAM - ARE YOU SICK OF PLASTIC?
Made from a whopping 3,229 pieces of laundry plastic, this huge art piece will represent the massive amount of un-recycled laundry plastic which is dumped EVERY DAY in Birmingham alone!
Created by Midlands based eco-artist Sarah Turner, we’re calling out the big laundry brands by using their plastic packaging to create the sculpture - in the hope they’ll join us to go plastic-free for our planet, and revolutionise how people shop laundry.
You might be wondering… how can a washing machine throw up plastic? Come see for yourself.
- In Birmingham? Join us Friday 19th May from 10am-6pm at Centenary Square in Birmingham’s city centre to see Sarah’s design, meet the smol team. We have free packs to giveaway from midday or the first 100 people that find the smol team and say "I'm sick of plastic!"
- Not in the area? Watch the behind the scenes here to see how we made the ad.
The Sick of Plastic sculpture will also support the charity, Surfers Against Sewage to tackle plastic waste in Birmingham by donating £5,000 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.
Know someone who hasn’t joined the smol revolution yet?
Refer-a-friend now to get a pack on us!
*Kantar sales data for the 52 weeks leading up to November 2022. The use of this statistic was approved by Clearcast.
** According to research from Every Can Counts, October 2022
