Every year, the Earth yields billions of tons of natural resources and at some point, in the not too distant future, it will run out. We must think again about what we throw away.
Recycling is recognised in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030, ‘Goal 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’, so we are seeing more individuals, governments and organisations taking direct action to support this as part of the global green agenda.
In England, we are about to see a major change under the Environment Act of 2021, with new waste regulations, ‘The Simpler Recycling Scheme’, aiming to streamline and simplify how we recycle across England. The regulations require that all non-household premises implement recycling for glass, plastic, metal, plastic, paper, card (dry-mixed recycling) and food waste.
Ultimately, these regulations will improve the quality and quantity of waste collections across England, taking us one step closer to achieving a circular economy. Recycling is a key part of the circular economy, helping to protect our natural resources. Each year the ‘Seventh Resource’ (recyclables) saves over 700 million tonnes in CO2 emissions and this is projected to increase to 1 billion tons by 2030.
The theme of Global Recycling Day 2025 is #RecyclingHeroes, which will recognise the people, places and activities that showcase what an important role recycling plays in contributing to a greener future.
We have lots of recycling heroes already at Assurity Consulting. As well as operating in a sustainable way as an integral part of how we do business we are lucky enough to have individuals who are very passionate about this topic. We have seen great success from employees’ initiatives such as recycling pens, crisp packets and soft plastics in addition to the traditional recycling streams. A great example is our employee led soft plastics recycling initiative, which has great support and diverted over 14kgs of soft plastics from landfill in 2024 alone.
So, get your staff involved and let’s find more #RecyclingHeroes!