- Leicester City in the Community have supported Leicester City Council’s Kick it to Plastics Scheme
- Various volunteer groups, including staff at LCFC, have cleaned up the River Soar and surrounding areas
- The recovered waste was cleaned and made into a six-metre sculpture of a footballer
Kick it to Plastics is a Leicester City Council-led initiative that aims to raise awareness of the scale of plastic pollution closer to home – right here, in Leicester’s waterways.
Tonnes of plastic litter end up in the River Soar every year, creating a massive task for the city council and the dozens of hard-working volunteers who try to keep the city’s waterways clean.
But now, thousands of bottle tops, plastic bottles, plastic bags and other plastic litter recovered from the river have been transformed into a sculpture that’s literally striking.
Leicester City in the Community are partners in the Kick it to Plastics campaign – and the plastic waste has been turned into a six-metre-tall footballer.
The giant striker – shown kicking a large plastic bottle – is made from plastics recovered from Leicester’s waterways this summer.
In just a few weeks, staff from Leicester City, including Foxes legend Matt Elliott, volunteers from community groups, Ellesmere College, local businesses, young people on the National Citizenship Scheme and Leicester Environmental Volunteers were able to collect enough waste material for the project - which demonstrates the scale of the problem.
The sculpture is now on display in Leicester’s Abbey Park and will remain there between now and the end of October.
Kick it to Plastics is a Leicester City Council initiative that’s supported by Leicester City in the Community, Trent Rivers Trust, the Soar Catchment Partnership and Leicester Environmental Volunteers.
How to help reduce the amount of litter getting into our waterways and out to sea by:
- Weaning yourself off single-use plastics – refuse them when you can.
- Carrying a reusable drink cup.
- Taking your litter home with you or carry until your find a bin - please don’t drop it on your way to and from King Power Stadium!
- Joining as a volunteer to help clean up.
Find more information by clicking HERE.