World’s largest plastic waste pyramid lands in Egyptian desert
  • last year
The world’s largest plastic waste pyramid has been revealed in Egypt on Thursday (3 Nov). Unveiled ahead of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheik, the structure is ten metres tall, 12 metres wide, and made from 18,000 kilograms of Nile River rubbish. Erected in Egypt’s Western Desert, just outside Cairo, the immense structure took five days to build and features the equivalent of one million  plastic water bottles and trash. The unveiling marks the beginning of a movement called the 100YR CLEANUP - an initiative led by zero-waste company Zero Co and mission-led wine The Hidden Sea. It seeks to fund large-scale rubbish clean-ups for the next 100 years and drive accountability for the single-use plastic problem. The campaign allows consumers to sponsor the removal of “bundles of trash”, while businesses can contribute funds towards the initiative. To mark the launch of 100YR CLEANUP, founder Mike Smith will camp out on top of pyramid for three days to call for support from people and businesses to join the movement. He says: “We can’t fix the plastic problem alone, but we can give everyone the ability to take action. "By working together with businesses, industry leaders and inviting the public to take direct action, we’ll be able to build a scalable solution to the problem and have a huge impact.” Justin Moran, founder of The Hidden Sea, a wine company taking plastic out of the ocean every time a bottle is bought, said: “Despite its epic size, the pyramid shows just a fraction of what is an incredible crisis." The Hidden Sea say they have removed 18 million plastic bottles from the ocean so far.
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