18 March is Global Recycling Day, which celebrates the importance of proper waste separation for the development of a circular economy that fully exploits resources and safeguards the future of the planet. This day was established in 2018 by the Global Recycling Foundation, which promotes recycling and supports the recycling industry worldwide. The idea of a Global Recycling Day was thought up to promote recycling, with the intention of pursuing two objectives:
- to tell world leaders that recycling is simply too important not to be a global issue and that a common, joined-up approach to recycling is urgently needed;
- to ask people across the planet to think resource, not waste, because until this happens, we simply won’t give recycled goods the true value and repurpose they deserve
This year’s Global Recycling Day will celebrate the ‘recycling fraternity’, to remember those who put themselves in the front line to collect waste and recycle it during the multiple lockdowns declared during the pandemic. Ranjit Baxi, founding president of the organisation, said that without the efforts of the recycling chain, civil society would have experienced even more inconvenience if waste such as masks and personal protective equipment were allowed to be collected without being sorted and processed.
The day also aims to raise awareness of the importance of education in combating pollution. According to Baxi, education on recycling is fundamental and should start in schools, when children are still young, so as to gradually teach them the importance of a cleaner environment. In fact, they are the ones who will then have to carry the recycling banner forward. For this reason, Baxi hopes “to promote and spread recycling education as widely as possible in all economies.”
