Tree by '˜Rubbish Artist' comes to Bognor

Created from 600 reused green plastic bottles by Tracey Graham, known as the ‘Rubbish Artist’, the work is located next to the Alexandra Theatre and will be on display throughout December.

Pantomime stars from Aladdin will be doing the honours with proceedings starting on Thursday at 4pm and the ‘switch on’ scheduled for 4.30pm.

Tracey hopes the project will help highlight plastic recycling in West Sussex.

It is estimated 166 million plastic bottles were recycled in the county during the last year, out of a possible 262 million.

West Sussex County Council’s waste prevention team will be there to talk about the tree and give tips on what to recycle at Christmas.

Deborah Urquhart, the county council’s cabinet member for the environment, said the tree is ‘such a delight to see’ and ‘does make you think’.

“In West Sussex, residents are recycling 59 per cent of their plastic bottles which is great, but 41 per cent still end up in the bin.

“As long as they are clean, dry and loose, all your plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays can be recycled, not just at Christmas, but all through the year.”

This is the fourth year the striking tree will be on display, previously having featured in Crawley and Horsham.

Let us know what you think of the sculpture by emailing [email protected]

For further information and advice on recycling visit www.thinkbeforeyouthrow.co.uk