Mae Mitchell’s amazing artwork made from plastic bottle tops saw her crowned a recycling hero.

Mae, who wanted to raise awareness of the amount of plastic we throw away, created her brightly coloured masterpiece for the Oxford Recycling Heroes competition run by Oxford City Council’s service provider, Oxford Direct Services (ODS), and its recycling team Oxford Recycles.

The entry was submitted by Mae’s mother, Stef.

Mae said: “I was upset at the amount of litter around my local area and I realised how much of the litter was recyclable. So I wanted to make a point of showing just how much plastic waste there is. By making the bottle top picture, I wanted to show how beautiful nature can be without litter and pollution.”

Both Stef and Mae are already working out what to do with the £250 in Love2Shop vouchers they won.

Stef said: “I am really proud at Mae’s passion towards trying to save the planet. She has been awarded a Blue Peter badge for making such efforts and she is already planning what she can do next to help the environment.”

The Recycling Heroes competition ran throughout October and November, encouraging people to do something amazing with recycling, take a photo or video of their creation, and post it on the Oxford Recycles social media page.

Other entries included a superhero video and Christmas decorations made from toilet roll tubes.

Entrants used the hashtag #RecyclingHeroes to share their work and explain what recycling means to them and to the environment.

Lubna Arshad, cabinet member for Parks and Waste Reduction, said: “We loved Mae’s entry. It was so creative. I could feel her passion and hope she continues with her art - as she is very talented. Mae is leading by example and we hope that her work can inspire others to focus more on reducing, reusing and recycling.”

ODS maintains Oxford City Council’s housing stock, parks and streets. In 2018 it was made a wholly owned company by its sole shareholder – the city council. It is now made up of two companies that deliver public and commercial services for more local authorities, businesses, schools, universities and residents across the county.

The competition was part of ODS’s commitment to reduce waste and increase the number of people who recycle in Oxford.

Oxford currently recycles over 52 per cent of its waste, also turning non-recyclable waste into energy to power tens of thousands of homes.