In an effort to encourage visitors to recycle more, Sea Life Brighton and
Parallel to the beautiful Brighton seafront, opposite its famous Pier, is the Sea Life aquarium. Thousands of guests flock every year to visit the many creatures that live here, including sharks, rays, seahorses, and a well-loved turtle named Lulu. The aquarium doesn’t just aim to entertain, it educates people on the importance of conserving our oceans and protecting our ocean’s wildlife. That’s why Sea Life Brighton has teamed up with
“If you put your bottle in a recycling bin it can be melted down into small pieces and made into a new bottle – or something else. And so ‘the loop’ continues.”
– James Burleigh, chief ambassador for Sea Life
The Loop is an interactive installation that encourages visitors to pop their bottle into one of its recycling bins, where it’s transported to a secret inner bottle bank, and in return gives the visitor something back: a neatly pressed pop-badge made from recycled bottles. It also displays information about recycling and an educational video.

What does The Loop hope to achieve?
The experience was conceived by Max Leviston, manager of Sea Life Brighton. “All of
Why is it called The Loop?
"Once you buy a bottle, you have several options: you can either drop it on the street, or on the beach – where it can harm our ocean's wildlife," says James Burleigh, chief ambassador for Sea Life. "Or you can put it in the rubbish bin, where it'll get taken to a landfill. Of course, there is another way. If you put your bottle in a recycling bin it can be melted down into small pieces and made into a new bottle – or something else like a pop-badge or even a chair! And so ‘the loop’ continues."
Chairs that used to be bottles
In fact, all 50 chairs at Sea Life Brighton are made from recycled plastic that’s been gathered from initial trials of The Loop. The aquarium hopes that eventually every piece of furniture in the café will be made from recycled plastics from The Loop.
100% recyclable and using 25% recycled plastic
Liz Lowe, Sustainability Manager,
“Later this year we will unveil a new sustainable packaging strategy to help us get more of our bottles back so they can be reused again and again and again.”
Recycle a bottle, donate to the Sea Life Trust
Plus, for every bottle that’s recycled at the aquarium,
The video displayed on The Loop, explaining exactly what happens to your bottle when it’s recycled. Please note: This video has no sound.
James Burleigh, chief ambassador for Sea Life, says the aquarium doesn't want to stop people from buying plastic bottles. What they want to change is what they do with the bottle after it's used. "The issue isn't with the bottles, plastic isn’t the enemy – it's where the bottle ends up is the problem. So we decided if we could help our guests to become more engaged with recycling, we could make a difference."
“All of
School children from St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School in Guildford were invited to have the first look at the installation and try it out. “We wanted the children to come down here today to try it out because hopefully they’ll start to develop good habits from a young age”, says Max.
He continues: “One child I spoke to – not today but a while ago – suggested when you put a bottle into a recycling bin it simply goes into a different landfill site! So, with The Loop, we are hoping to inform our visitors about what recycling means and why it is so important for our oceans, in fact, for the whole planet.”
The children’s teacher, Jude Watt agrees. "I think it just clarifies the importance of recycling. Because we talk about it a lot at school, but for them to actually put in a bottle to see what comes out, it makes it very physical and very real and helps to show them that they're responsible for the environment."
“I think it's really important that
‘Crucial partnership’
“The partnership with
Find out more about the work
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