Beverage giant Coca-Cola has completed its giant sculpture made from 2 600 Coca-Cola crates, which stands 15 metres tall in the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, overlooking the M1 highway.

The company said that it was a quirky monument to the notion of recycling as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup celebrations, and was designed to capture attention.

"This is not only an example of clever recycling - using crates as an art material - but is also an expression of Coca-Cola's commitment to recycling and turning waste materials into a resource. We want it to inspire and educate," said Coca-Cola integrated marketing communications head Lanya Stanek.

Artist Porky Hefer, using a skeleton of steel scaffolding and a body created from 2 600 1,25-litre Coca-Cola crates, created the Newtown crate fan.

The structure is made of fully of recyclable material, which the company said highlighted Coca-Cola's commitment to sustainable packaging.

"As part of the Coca-Cola passion, we are committed to sustainable packaging, which means we deliver the taste our customers love in a package that can be used again," said Coca-Cola Live for a Difference director Matrona Fillipou.

"All the material used to produce the art work will be reused when the celebrations are over," said Fillipou.

Recycling has been a major theme of Coca-Cola's commitment to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Two legacy projects - the Ticket Fund and Ball Crew - rewarded school children for collecting used cans and bottles in a major recycling drive with an emphasis on environmental awareness.

In the Ticket Fund programme, children from 200 schools won 20 000 tickets to the World Cup based on the number of cans and bottles they collected, while the Ball Crew children - those who serve as ball crew for 32 of the tournament matches - were in part, selected on the basis of how many used bottles, cans and Coca-Cola plastic products, they collected.

Crate fan in Newtown was one of two such sculptures - the other is being built in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The locations were selected in areas where fans could photograph themselves with ‘crate fan'.