Global Recycling Day urges people & policymakers to be committed to recycling and sustainability

The second annual Global Recycling Day was celebrated yesterday, March 18, in Washington, DC.  Communities and individuals around the world gathered together to celebrate the Global Recycling Day.

On the occasion, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) urged businesses, communities, policymakers, and individuals to increase their commitment to recycling and recognize scrap as an important resource. The institute also upheld the role played by recycling in environmental protection, energy conservation, and sustainability.

Image: ESI-Africa

“ISRI is proud to play a leading role once again in Global Recycling Day,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI.

“As a society, it is imperative that we start considering recyclables to be the planet’s seventh and most important resource. Recyclables are a resource that can be used over and over again so that we do not exhaust our natural resources,” she added.

Global Recycling Day is organized by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). The event promotes scrap as a resource and not as waste and urges policymakers to take initiatives for recycling. The event promotes recyclable commodities are a “seventh resource,” along with the six primary resources of water, air, coal, oil, natural gas, and minerals. Global Recycling Day is also urges consumers to make changes in their recycling habits to improve environment.

“Recycling transforms plastics, metals, paper, glass and other such scrap commodities into new materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy through reduced consumption and providing valuable feedstock in the manufacturing process,” said Wiener.

This year’s Global Recycling Day promotes the theme ‘Recycling into the Future,’ focusing on the power of youth and education in ensuring environmental sustainability.