Wasteminster: Downing St plastics 'disaster'

Every single day, 1.8 million kilograms of the UK's plastic waste is exported to other countries. In this arresting footage, titled 'Downing St Disaster', environmental organisation Greenpeace asks and answers the question: What would it look like if that exact amount was dumped on Downing Street? Located in the City of Westminster in London - hence the 'Wasteminster' parody tag - Downing St houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. According to Greenpeace, less than 10% of the UK’s household plastic packaging is actually recycled in the UK, while plastic waste offloaded onto other countries is often dumped and burned in the open air. Nearby communities in Malaysia are reporting serious health problems like respiratory issues, nosebleeds and headaches. A new investigation shows that UK waste from British supermarket brands is being dumped and burned in the open air in Turkey: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/uk-plastics-sent-for-recycling-in-turkey-dumped-and-burned-greenpeace-finds. Those famliar with the satirical puppet show 'Spitting Image' may recognise the voices of comedians Matt Forde as Prime Minister Boris Johnson (he also voiced former US President Donald Trump in the 2020 series) and Jon Culshaw as former Environment Secretary (2017-2019) Michael Gove. What do you think of this campaign? Brilliant, hard-hitting, unnecessary? Will it galvanise us to take action and hold authorities accountable, or at least make us aware of the issues? (To view a few other Greenpeace campaigns, just use our Search button top right.)

Keywords: Greenpeace Wasteminster, satire in commercials, funny ads, plastic waste, Downing St disaster, political greenwashing, plastics recyling, Matt Forde, Jon Culshaw, Studio Birthplace