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Reconstruction from trash: the likenesses of Boris Johnson, Yoshihide Suga, Emmanuel Macron, Mario Draghi, Justin Trudeau, Angela Merkel and Joe Biden (from left) near the G7 conference venue St. Ives
Photo: Adam Gasson / dpa
The work of art is impressive and terrifying at the same time: an artist has created a larger than life sculpture from thousands of pieces of electronic waste near the town of St. Ives in south-east England.
It shows the heads of government of the G-7 countries Great Britain, Japan, USA, Italy, France, Germany and Canada.
The structure, which is based on the monumental US presidential memorial "Mount Rushmore" and was christened "Mount Recyclemore", is supposed to indicate the damage caused by the inadequate recycling of electronic goods, according to the BBC.
According to the artist Joe Rush, the work should be a warning to the heads of government.
"We set it up so that it looks their way and makes them aware that they are all in the garbage business together," Rush told the broadcaster.
Electrical devices would have to become easier to repair or more durable, because otherwise they would end up in landfill en masse.
Much need for discussion for the G7 leaders
The sculpture was therefore commissioned by a company that recycles electronic waste.
It stands on a hill across from the Carbis Bay Hotel, where the heads of government meet from Friday to Sunday.
The topics of the summit are diverse.
The EU, which is also represented as an institution at the summit, announced that it wanted to mobilize 250 million euros in the fight against hunger after the corona pandemic.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen named climate protection as other top topics for the meeting - she campaigned for a solidarity with the USA for ambitious climate goals - as well as a fair distribution of corona vaccines worldwide.
Before the summit of their heads of government, the finance ministers of the G7 countries had already agreed on a minimum tax for large corporations of at least 15 percent and a new digital tax.
Both are primarily aimed at forcing multinational corporations and tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Apple to pay higher taxes.
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