Global Recycling Day 2019: “Recycling into the Future”

SEATTLE (Waste 360): For the second consecutive year, on what has been dubbed Global Recycling Day, the Global Recycling Foundation is urging the recycling industry to take heed of the UN’s Paris Climate Agreement (COP24 agreement) and continue to play its frontline role in preserving the planet’s resources and improving the circular economy. It is also calling on recycling businesses and organizations across the globe to impress on their local communities, municipalities and governments to take action.

As part of this year’s Global Recycling Day on March 18, the theme “Recycling into the Future” will focus on the power of youth and education in ensuring a brighter future.

The COP24 agreement seeks to promote greater international cooperation, which is a key pillar of the Global Recycling Day campaign. In 2018, Global Recycling Day campaigned for world leaders to commit to seven key areas, including implementing a focus on international legislation, increased education regarding recycling and awareness around the key issues.

“The Global Recycling Foundation applauds the achievement at COP24 in reaching this agreement and the commitment to tackling climate change,” said Ranjit Baxi, founding president of the Global Recycling Foundation and president of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), in a statement. “It’s our responsibility and collective duty to protect our planet. Recycling and the circular economy are crucial to achieving this and beating climate change. We also welcome Defra’s new strategy of working with packaging manufactures to promote responsible disposal and recycling of goods—such strategies are key to growing a circular economy.”

“This is the reason Global Recycling Day was launched in 2018, to encourage the world to think ‘resource not waste,’” added Baxi. “And, as part of the Global Recycling Foundation’s mission to support educational programs focused on the sustainable development of recycling, we are continuing to support its growth in 2019. Our second Global Recycling Day 2019 will take place on March 18, 2019, and we urge the world to support this movement.”

Due to the success of Global Recycling Day 2018 with more than 13 million people across the world taking part in celebrations of the initiative, the Global Recycling Foundation was launched by BIR in October 2018.

As communities and individuals around the world come together today to celebrate the second annual Global Recycling Day and as a sponsor of the event again this year, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is calling on businesses, communities, policymakers and individuals to increase their commitment to recycling and recognize scrap as an important resource. Recyclable materials are valuable commodities that play a pivotal role in environmental protection, energy conservation, and sustainability.

“ISRI is proud to play a leading role once again in Global Recycling Day,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI, in a statement. “As a society, it is imperative that we start considering recyclables to be the planet’s seventh and most important resource. Recyclables are a resource that can be used over and over again so that we do not exhaust our natural resources.”

“With an increasing global population and growing levels of consumption, conserving our resources is more important than ever before,” added Wiener. “Whether the focus is ocean plastics, climate change, energy consumption, or other environmental concerns, recycling is a solution. Recycling transforms plastics, metals, paper, glass and other such scrap commodities into new materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy through reduced consumption and providing valuable feedstock in the manufacturing process.”

In honor of this year's theme, through its youth outreach program, ISRI offers a number of free resources to teachers to educate children on the science of recycling.

Courtesy: https://waste360.com