'Plastic beasts and where to find them': recycled milk bottle top sculptures given new home
The angler fish and octopus sculptures came second in a national recycling promotion competition
Two sculptures - made by schoolchildren, and part of a national recycling competition - have found new homes across the region.
The eye-catching angler fish and octopus are made entirely from plastic milk bottle tops, created by pupils at Lyngford Park Primary School in Taunton as part of recycling project.
The fantastic plastic beasts earned the school a runners-up prize in a national recycling promotion competition and have now been rehomed by SUEZ, the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) waste collection contractor.
They were originally hosted at Priorswood Library, but thanks to SUEZ, the sculptures have now found more permanent homes, following the effort of the pupils from Lyngford Park.
The angler fish is now in the SUEZ depot office in Bridgwater, while the octopus has travelled across the border to a new home in the East Devon depot.
During the handover ceremony, the schoolchildren got the chance to take a sneak peek of one of the SUEZ fleet.
The organisation have a total of 200 vehicles - which they claim complete around 350,000 collections across the county every week.
Nicole Stearn, Art Lead at Lyngford Park Primary said: “The children at Lyngford Park are passionate about the environment and this competition gave them a creative opportunity to highlight the problem of plastic pollution.
“The whole Lyngford community was involved collecting and reusing the bottle tops. The children asked the question to their families ‘What happened to the bottles the tops came from?’
“We displayed a blue recycling bag alongside our sculptures to encourage everyone to make better choices with their plastic waste.”
Councillor Sarah Dyke, Chair of the Somerset Waste Board, said: “Getting children enthused and engaged with recycling and sustainability is a key part of what we do.
“It’s great to see that the marvellous creations have found such an appropriate new home.”
Lily Morton, SUEZ’s Somerset Community Liaison Manager said: “We were really impressed by the sculptures the school produced and so when they were looking for a new home our depot managers jumped at the chance to have them on display.
“At SUEZ our vision is to live in a society where there is no more waste. Reuse is an essential component to achieving this and we are so thrilled to support a local school who have really embraced reuse.
“The sculptures are now pride of place in our Bridgwater and East Devon depots for staff and visitors to enjoy and I’ve assured the children they’ve gone to a good new home!”
According to statistics released by the Somerset Waste Partnership, they say at 56.2%, Somerset's recycling rate is higher than it has ever been.
Indeed, last year, more than 133,000 tonnes of carbon we saved by recycling and reuse across the county.
With its Schools Against Waste project, SWP offers all primary schools in the county free visits from the Carymoor Environmental Trust.
Through assemblies and workshops they introduce children to the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling and discuss how to reduce waste at home and school.