We helped Envision Racing spotlight the urgent issue of electronic waste and inspire people to help fix it.
Envision Racing
Shining a light on electronic waste
challenge
Annual e-waste production is on track to reach a staggering 75 million tonnes by 2030[1], with the UK at number two globally in terms of how much e-waste we generate.[2] It’s a huge problem and one that many people are unaware of; global decarbonisation needs these minerals and metals to be available as part of a circular economy.
solution
We worked in partnership with Envision Racing to launch Recover-E, an integrated global campaign raising awareness of e-waste and inspiring young people to tackle the issue. The youth audience for Formula E and racing was critical, as they are set to be the biggest generators of e-waste.
To show people that electronic waste is not actually waste, but contains valuable materials that need to be reused, we linked Envision with Material Focus – an organisation on a mission to stop electricals being hoarded and thrown away. Over 100 phones and a heap of other electric products were upcycled to create a driveable, full-sized replica of a Gen3 Formula E car. It was revealed by actor and UN ambassador Aidan Gallagher on the racetrack at ExCeL in London on the eve of the capital’s e-prix race. And it then appeared centre stage in the blue zone at COP 28.
We worked with local authorities to engage schools in the launch of a national competition around e-waste and securing a partnership with Cartoon Network Climate Champions programme to amplify the message for their young audience and encourage climate pledges.
The campaign was exclusively launched on BBC’s prime time show, The One Show, and featured on national and international mainstream news and prime time shows like Top Gear, BBC Sport and ITV.
50,000
e-waste pledges to date
>10,000
young people directly reached in community groups and schools across the country to raise awareness of the Race to Waste competition, which received over 1,000 entries
381%
increase in website traffic since the Recover E / RACC event launch
6.9M
views garnered, 15 million impressions and an engagement figure of 680,000 on social media
>1B
people reached through 106 pieces of editorial coverage
12
top tier media attending launch of car at London ExCel on eve of London e-prix
Thousands of pieces of e-waste, including laptops, vapes, phones and batteries were used to create the racing car over 12 months. Envision Racing partnered with British artist and designer Liam Hopkins to design and build the car.
"Forster brought strategic insights and their typical energy to the management of this campaign, resulting in excellent engagement and record breaking coverage for us."
Dan Matson,
Head of Marketing & Communications at Envision Racing
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