With less than a week to go until the inaugural Global Recycling Day event, cities around the world are announcing their plans to celebrate the day.

The day, which is an initiative from the Bureau for International Recycling (BIR), encourages the world to think “resource” not “waste” when it comes to recycling and urges people to think of recycling in a new way.

Cities that have confirmed their involvement in the first Global Recyling Day on Monday 18 March 2018 include London, Paris, Brussels, Sao Paolo, Washington DC, Sydney, Delhi, Dubai and Johannesburg.

Northern hemisphere activities

On the 18th March 2018 in London, the Global Recycling Day team will showcase the scale of what is 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 on Thursday March 15th. There will be similar events on Capitol Hill in Washington DC and Sao Paolo for Global Recycling Day on March 16th.

Activities down south                                                       

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.

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.  Both events are taking place ahead of the Day itself on March 16^th.

Adopting a global approach

Commenting on the event BIR President Ranjit Baxi noted that the world’s first Global Recycling Day was a vitally important new date in our global calendar. “To truly harness the power of recycling we must adopt a global approach to its collection, processing and use.

“It is time we put the planet first and all commit to spend 10 more minutes a day ensuring that materials are disposed of properly. It is a joint responsibility, not one of the few and I look forward to seeing individuals, communities, businesses and leaders joining us and celebrating the Day on 18^th March,” he concluded.