Website launch marks kick-off for Global Recycling Day

Global – The BIR world recycling organisation has launched a website dedicated to Global Recycling Day (www.globalrecyclingday.com), which will take place for the first time on March 18 2018. The website showcases the mission of this special day to refocus the world’s awareness of recycling.

The initiative was kicked off at the BIR World Recycling Convention in New Delhi with the switch-on of the website and the launch of the Day’s social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn by BIR president Ranjit Baxi.

According to Baxi, Global Recycling Day is intended to unite people across the world, highlighting ‘the need to conserve our six primary resources (water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals) and celebrating the power of the newly-termed ”Seventh Resource” – the goods we recycle every day’. Global Recycling Day will be focused on action aimed at a global approach to recycling and calling on world leaders, international businesses, communities and individuals to make seven clear commitments in their approach to recycling.

These commitments are: focus on international legislation and agreements; boost free and fair trade of recycling materials across the globe; educate the public, from grass roots up, about the critical necessity of recycling; agree to a common language of recycling; to make recycling a community issue, supporting schemes and initiatives which help households and businesses provide Seventh Resource materials for repurposing; work with the industry to encourage ‘design for recycling’ in the repurposing of materials – reducing waste, integrating ‘end-of-life’ planning at design stage; and support innovation, research and initiatives that foster better recycling practices and technology.

BIR’s ‘single biggest mission’ with Global Recycling Day is to make the world focus on recycling for 24 hours and for people to change at least one habit. ‘Primary resources, as we all know, are finite,’ commented Baxi in New Delhi. ‘It is our collective duty, across the globe, to preserve, respect and make the best use of virgin resources.’

The Global Recycling Day website will have three key messages; to learn, sign, and do. Visitors to the site will be able to learn about the recycling industry, how to support recycling initiatives at a personal and community level, and more about the Seventh Resource; sign a petition at change.org to show world leaders the change that is needed to make recycling a truly global concern; and do by joining in the day of action on March 18 and sharing good practice on social media.