Dive Brief:

• An exhibition featuring 500 life-size sculptures made from trash is being showcased at the Hiriya landfill in Tel Aviv, Israel.
• The installation is made form 20 tons of waste, including recycled computer components, glass, iron, cans and industrial waste.
• The work is the creation of artist HA Schult in 1996. Schult has set up this exhibit for the past 18 years around the globe.

Dive Insight:

Schult has been been utilizing waste in his pieces since 1969. He once said, "We live in an era of trash and we are running the risk of becoming trash ourselves." His other conceptual art has included filling St. Mark's Square in Venice with discarded newspapers, and constructing a hotel on a beach in Spain made from 12 tons of debris that had washed ashore. 

According to the Center for Sustainability and Commerce at Duke University, the average human produces 4.3 pounds of waste every day. This figure is 1.6 pounds more that the average amount generated per person in 1960. 55% of the 220 million tons created in the United States is deposited into landfills, according to the EPA in 2011. 

Photographer David Lachapelle recently used garbage to create his latest series, Refineries and Gas Stations, while Jason Mecier used e-waste to create a portrait of Steve Jobs.