Largest recycled artwork 200,000 aluminum cans and 50 meters long

To mark Recycle Week 2009 this week, a team of artists has created the world’s largest recycled artwork on a stretch of the South Downs in Sussex. The image, of a lady enjoying the sunshine in her swimsuit, is based on a classic 1949 summer poster by Coca-Cola, but has been recreated with a new message using 200,000 aluminium cans collected from around the UK.

The sculpture, on grassland above chalk cliffs at Seven Sisters near Eastbourne, measures 50 metres across and can only be viewed in its entirety from the air. Called Precious Metal, the artwork is intended to inspire consumers to recycle their cans and bottles this summer.

Recycling aluminium is 20 times more energy efficient than making it from scratch1. At the end of Recycle Week each of the 200,000 cans will be recycled, saving enough energy to keep a television running for 70 years.

Liz Lowe, Citizenship Manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “Old cans aren't just waste, they're precious metal. They can live forever through recycling, to be used time and time again to make a whole number of new things, saving huge amounts of energy and raw materials.

“With this simple message we want to inspire people to think twice about binning their empty bottles and cans... an empty drinks can that you recycle today could be back on the shelf as a brand new one in just six weeks.”

Via: CreativeReview