Plastic peaks
In 2018, the owner of V10 Polymers, a plastics recycling business based in Blackburn, Lancashire, was prosecuted after failing to act over fire risks. The Judge said the owner “rode roughshod” over legislation designed to protect the environment.
The company subsequently went bust, and the three-acre site is now contaminated with thousands of tonnes of hard plastic waste. There have been numerous fires at the site and all attempts to have the waste cleaned up have come to nothing. Today it is unclear who owns the former factory on Paterson Street. The cleanup costs are too great for the local council, and the Environment Agency has bigger fish to fry. As one local resident said: “No one really gives a damn.” This is a sentiment that seems to echo across Blackburn.
With these images, I aim to highlight the inequality that smaller post-industrial towns face due to a lack of funding, the struggle to attract attention to less fashionable areas of the UK, and ultimately, the environmental cost of plastic waste.
Plastic Peak #1, 2024
Archival inkjet print on photo rag 59 x 42cm
Plastic Peak #2, 2024
Archival inkjet print on photo rag 59 x 42cm
Plastic Peak #3, 2024
Archival inkjet print on photo rag 59 x 42cm
Plastic Peak #4, 2024
Archival inkjet print on photo rag 59 x 42cm