Envision Racing have been awarded the prestigious Campaign of the Year prize at the 2023 BASIS Sustainable Sport Awards for their ground-breaking Recover E initiative.
The award was announced at the 2023 BASIS (British Association for Sustainability in Sport) Awards in London on Tuesday afternoon, as part of a ceremony at the All-England Lawn & Tennis Club in Wimbledon.
Our ‘Campaign of the Year’ award, presented by YourPact, was won by @Envision_Racing for their campaign ‘Recover-E’!
Well done! pic.twitter.com/xYs748hzjD
— BASIS 🌍 (@BASIS_org) November 7, 2023
The team came up with the Recover E campaign to raise awareness about electronic waste (‘e-waste’) – identified by the UN World Health Organisation as the “next growing threat to the environment” – in a way that also underlined the importance of recycling appropriately and encouraged all to re-think the ways they can contribute towards a more sustainable, circular economy.
The Formula E world champions partnered with artist Liam ‘Lazerian’ Hopkins to build the world’s first fully electric and drivable formula race car constructed entirely from e-waste.
The visionary endeavour not only sparks excitement on the track but also shines a spotlight on the staggering global issue of e-waste. The one-of-a-kind car was officially launched live on flagship BBC programme ‘The One Show’.
The environmentally conscious race car is a testament to innovation, seamlessly integrating donated electronic relics donated by school children and young people. Tens of thousands of iPhones, chargers, laptops, cables, game consoles, batteries, and even single-use vapes dance harmoniously to form the very sinews of this remarkable machine, in a bid to raise awareness about the dire need for recycling and repurposing our digital relics.
Alongside the functioning racing car, which was unveiled to worldwide media at the London E-Prix in July, the team also ran a competition for youngsters aged 8-21 to design their own model car made out of their disused electronics. The competition was run in partnership with Cartoon Network, with winners from the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Philippines eventually identified.
The team also launched a special e-waste pledge on its website – bringing the total number of pledges in the ‘Sustainable Chain’ initiative up to 12. To date, 49,242 having already made a commitment to reduce their e-waste.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world, increasing three times faster than the world’s population. Less than a quarter of e-waste produced globally in 2019 was known to be formally recycled; however, e-waste streams contain valuable and finite resources that can be reused if they are recycled appropriately
The Recover E initiative gained global press attention from outlets including the BBC, New Scientist, Wired, Dezeen, ITV and many more, earning over 100 items of media coverage with a combined reach (broadcast and print) of almost 1.7 billion.
On social media, clips of the car – which was officially unveiled by UN Goodwill Ambassador and actor Aidan Gallagher – were viewed over seven million times, with almost 700,000 engagements from fans across channels.
The BASIS programme aims to educate, engage and empower sport in the UK to become a world-leader in sustainability. The organisation actively seeks to partner with organisations that can contribute to this goal.
Members include Arsenal FC, England Rugby and the All-England Lawn Tennis Association, among many more.
