These two were animatedly rehearsing “for a show about plastic” on a street corner, attracting interest from local residents; above was the moment they were interrupted with a series of questions about what they were doing and why…

18:36 Thursday May 11, 2017

Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, London

Facts: The amount of waste from single-use plastic bottles in London has risen out of control, according to a report from the London assembly environment committee. It calls on the mayor to consider introducing a deposit return scheme and to provide free tap water as an alternative. The report finds that the London population consumes more plastic bottled water than anywhere else in England – 7.7bn a year – yet has the worst recycling rate in the UK – 32%, compared with a national average of 43%. Plastic bottles make up 10% of all litter found in the Thames. A separate study found three-quarters of the flounder swimming in the river had ingested plastic. Plastic bottles take 450 years to break down.