Lidl has unveiled a 25ft-tall mural in Glasgow, inspired by Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus.
The hand-crafted mural – called Bottlecelli – is made from over 30,000 bottle caps and was commissioned to mark a whopping 253,000 containers of PET plastic and aluminium recycled through the supermarket’s bottle return scheme pilot that launched last month.
The artwork is designed to encourage more shoppers and passers-by to play their part in reducing plastic pollution and can be found at the SWG multi-disciplinary arts venue in Glasgow’s west end.
Lidl teamed up with mural artist Smug and Yardworks, the street and graffiti programme at SWG3, to create the piece. With a freehand-painted base, the artwork is embellished in parts with a mix of bottle caps due to be recycled and bottle caps already recycled through the scheme in the past month.
The supermarket’s return scheme pilot launched in February and will run until August. Shoppers receive a 5p reward for each eligible item that they return, which can either be redeemed against their weekly shop or donated to Lidl’s long-standing charity partner, The STV Children’s appeal. Lidl has committed a further £2,500 – for bottle tops used in creation of the mural – to the organisation, which it has supported since 2011.
Lidl anticipates the trial scheme will result in a minimum 10.5 tonnes of plastic and aluminium material being recycled each month, with the material set to be retained and used to create new plastic and aluminium products.
Marco Ivone, Lidl’s Regional Director for Scotland comments: “Since launching last month, we’ve had an overwhelming response to our pilot return scheme and ‘Bottlecelli’ is an opportunity for us to give something back to the Glasgow community.
“We know our customers share our passion for sustainability and saving money, and we hope even more people take advantage of the schemes as we continue to invest in ways to ensure recycling is as convenient as possible.”
Visit the ‘Bottlecelli’ mural at 100 Eastvale Place, Glasgow, G3 8QG. The Lidl Return Scheme runs in participating Glasgow stores until 11 August 2024.
