The countdown is on till Global Recycling Day on 18 March, with cities around the world preparing to make a statement.
At the head office of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) in Sydney, over 50 academics and industry experts will gather to recognise Global Recycling Day and discuss cross-sector collaborations ahead of the day, on 16 March.
In London, the Global Recycling Day team will showcase the scale of what's possible by using large bundles of recycled materials at a central location.
The Federation of Recycling Enterprises (FEDEREC) will hold a press conference at World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) France’s Headquarters in Paris to raise awareness of the need to utilise the world’s Seventh Resource.
In Johannesburg, Global Recycling Day’s Manifesto will be launched along with a public clean-up campaign with the help of the Catholic Diocese and the City of Johannesburg.
These events will encourage individuals to pledge to make at least one change to their recycling habits, as well as asking them to sign BIR’s petition calling for the day to be recognised by the United Nations.
On social media, supporters of the day will be encouraged to use #GlobalRecyclingDay and adopt an exclusive Global Recycling Day border to their profile picture.
BIR President Ranjit Baxi said Global Recycling Day was "a wake-up call" for consumers to unite with the industry.
"We need to stop expecting countries to simply accept recyclables, which are difficult and costly to process,” he said.
Global Recycling Day organisers have released The Seven Golden Rules of Recycling, below:
- Be single-use-plastic aware – reduce and recycle
- Learn, and follow, local recycling regulations
- Prevent contamination of recyclable materials
- Mend, repair and reuse
- Be a recycling-aware shopper
- Make the effort to recycle electronics
- Reduce our individual waste-footprint.
