When litter becomes a work of art

Few people think that rubbish is a thing of beauty, but Bournemouth Borough Council has come up with an artistic way of encouraging people to recycle litter at locations across the region’s coastline.

The council has teamed up with plastics recycling campaign #pledge4plastics as part of a bid to set a new world record for the largest work of art made from recycled packaging. The artwork will be displayed at the Bournemouth Arts Festival this month.

Councillor Michael Filer, Portfolio Holder for Cleansing and Waste at the council hopes that the initiative will help to raise the issue of litter and the importance of keeping the beaches and surrounding areas clean and tidy. He comments: “Our seafront team work extremely hard every day to make sure Bournemouth’s beach is beautiful for the daily influx of thousands of visitors, and it’s pleasing that the vast majority of people put their packaging in the bin or take it home to recycle.

"However, we want to make sure even more is recycled, and so we’ve partnered up with #pledge4plastics to promote awareness and drive home the message that more can still be done."

The council is appealing to people to come up with ideas for the work of art, which will be constructed as part of an engagement event for local residents and festival visitors.

As a busy seaside resort, it is important for the town to look attractive to visitors, but littering can be a problem, especially during the summer months. Bournemouth collects over 361 tonnes of rubbish and recycling from its beachside bins and over 86,000 tonnes across the borough every year.

Amberol’s MD Patience Atkinson-Gregory is intrigued by the idea of litter as art. “Obviously, we put most of our energies into finding ways to help councils and local authorities to collect more litter more easily, which is why we spend such a lot of time designing and developing different styles of bin. However, anything which raises the profile of the problem of litter and recycling has to be a good thing. We look forward to seeing what the residents of Bournemouth come up with at the festival.”

Click here to find out about the Amberol range of litter bins, including recycling, indoor, outdoor and even talking bins.