“Help us bring together a critical mass of voices around the world to create one unified approach to recycling. Support our petition calling on the United Nations to officially recognise Global Recycling Day and drive concrete, urgent action to preserve our planet.” 

President of the Bureau of International Recycling, R S Baxi

• Every year, the earth yields 55 billion tons of finite natural resources to transform into consumables[1]
• Yet 2.12 billion tons of materials are discarded worldwide every year[2]
• Recyclables already supply 40% of the world’s raw material needs[3]
• But there is the power to supply much, much more

 As global citizens we take a short-sighted approach to the goods and materials around us and, in doing so, are depleting the earth’s precious natural resources, contributing to climate change and polluting our planet.

And there is a simple solution to stop this wasteful approach towards our resources, and it is on our doorstep.  Recycling has the power to reduce our reliance on the earth’s six primary natural resources (water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals) and help combat climate change.

Urgent action is needed to halt the destructive cycle of ‘take and waste’ and unite behind a global approach to recycling. Waste must be seen as a Seventh Resource.

To bring about change, we’re calling on governments, international organisations, businesses, communities and individuals to come together on the 18th March 2018 – the first ever Global Recycling Day – to champion the world’s Seventh Resource.

Recycling is too important not to be a global issue. We believe Global Recycling Day is an essential first step in creating a worldwide movement behind recycling, which has the power to save our planet and protect its natural resources for future generations to come.

Global Recycling Day will act as a rallying call to world leaders to take seven concrete actions to make better use of the Seventh Resource:

1. Implement and strengthen international agreements that promote recycling, and negotiate new ones as needed.  
2. Support and campaign for free sustainable trade of recycled materials across the globe.
3. Educate, from the grass roots up, the public on the critical necessity of recycling.
4. Agree to a common language of recycling (same definitions, same messages).
5. Make recycling a community issue, supporting initiatives which help households and businesses provide Seventh Resource materials for repurposing. 
6. Work with the industry to encourage ‘design for recycling’ in the reuse of materials – reducing waste and integrating ‘end-of-life’ functionality at the design stage.
7. Support innovation, research and initiatives that foster better recycling practices.

Will you join us in calling on the United Nations to recognise Global Recycling Day in its roster of awareness days, to help our message to reach as many people as possible worldwide?

 SIGN OUR PETITION

Find out more about Global Recycling Day.

[1] The World Counts - http://www.theworldcounts.com/counters/shocking_environmental_facts_and_statistics/resources_extracted_from_earth
[2] The World Counts - http://www.theworldcounts.com/counters/shocking_environmental_facts_and_statistics/world_waste_facts
[3] BIR - http://www.bir.org/industry/