The ‘Let’s Get Real’ film has picked up a Gold Smiley award at the OCFA Charity Film Awards, where it was up against strong contenders from Barts, Scout Association, Samaritans, Diabetes UK, Breast Cancer Now and The Bible Society.
Recycle Now is WRAP’s national campaign which aims to motivate more people to recycle more of the right things, more often. It works alongside brands, retailers, waste management companies, local authorities and Government to bring about real sustainable change.
Recycle Week is Recycle Now’s flagship annual event which is a celebration of recycling across the nation. It’s the one week of the year where retailers, brands, waste management companies, trade associations, governments and the media come together to achieve one goal: to galvanise the public into recycling more of the right things, more often.
This year Recycle Week went bolder and bigger than ever. The theme was ‘Let’s Get Real’ and it boldly challenged perceptions and myths around recycling as well as targeting contamination to improve recycling behaviours.
An integrated marketing campaign was developed with all campaign elements working to drive behaviour change. This included a giant QR code made from recyclable materials, digital advertising and a celebrity ambassador to front the campaign.
A key element of the campaign was the creation of a short film which launched the Week. The film unpacked what really happens to our recycling in a fast-paced, behind-the-scenes journey through a recycling facility. It aimed to educate citizens about what can and can’t be recycled.
The ‘Let’s Get Real’ film has picked up a Gold Smiley award at the OCFA Charity Film Awards, where it was up against strong contenders from Barts, Scout Association, Samaritans, Diabetes UK, Breast Cancer Now and The Bible Society.
The Charity Film Awards is the world’s biggest campaign to promote cause-based films. The awards, sponsored by TikTok and powered by Smiley Movement, are recognised by both British Film Industry (BPI) and The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Tom Allen, and held at the Odeon Leicester Square, with guests from nominated companies including Asda, Allianz, Costa and the NHS.
Produced in partnership with Radley Yeldar and sponsored by waste management company Biffa, the film is brought to life using eight cameras which includes several timelapses and a drone. The creative use of go-pros – swooping over recycling, weaving through machinery, plunging down chutes – helped achieve the vision of showing a recycling plant in a way people had never seen it before.
The award win is a testament to the overall success of Recycle Week 2022 and its power to help the public to be more mindful of what they put in their recycling bins. All of the campaign activity across the country resulted in 14% of UK adults recall seeing or hearing about Recycle Week, this equates to 7.1 million citizens. 47% of those 7.1 million citizens said they did something differently as a result of seeing or hearing about Recycle Week. This equates to an impressive 3.7 million citizens.
