Christmas tree is Crawley’s own Pledge4 Plastics

A Christmas tree made from 600 plastic bottles is one town’s way of supporting a national campaign to encourage consumer recycling.

The tree, erected outside the library in Crawley, West Sussex, is a way of raising awareness of plastic waste in light of the ‘Pledge4Plastics’ initiative launched in September this year.

The campaign is urging people to make a promise to recycle just one extra plastic bottle, per household, each week using their existing services.

“The Pledge 4 Plastics campaign aims to encourage people to think and act differently,” explained Stuart Foster, CEO of Recoup. “We want to highlight how great things can come from recycling unwanted plastic.”

In order to involve the community, school children from local primary schools were invited to enter a competition to design the star that crowns the tree.

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council's Cabinet Member for Residents' Services, commented: “The eco-tree is a visually striking way of drawing attention to the issue of plastic waste.

“We would like to encourage everyone to make a commitment to recycle at least one more plastic bottle every week – from soda bottles to shampoo bottles, they all count.”

Visit www.pledge4plastics.co.uk to find out more about the campaign.