Global Recycling Day, celebrated every year on the 18th of March, has recognised the role recycling plays in preserving the world’s resources and supporting a sustainable future.
Established in 2018, the day highlights the growing pressure on the world’s natural resources. As demand rises, so does the need to rethink how resources are used, recovered, and reused across industries.
Rather than viewing materials as waste, Global Recycling Day has encouraged a shift in perspective, seeing discarded resources as part of a broader circular system.
Over the past few years, Global Recycling Day has brought together industry, policymakers, and communities around a shared goal of improving how materials are managed. The impact of this day is not just about awareness but about inspiring collective action towards recycling and reducing waste.
For more than 20 years, The Packaging Forum has been developing sustainable solutions to maximise material recovery and minimise waste. These solutions range from promoting and investing in reuse and refillable solutions to facilitating recovery and recycling schemes for glass, soft plastic, food and beverage cartons, and, most recently, caps and lids.
In New Zealand, soft plastics, lids, caps and cartons are recycled and turned into fence posts, bollards and sustainable building materials. It is important to remember that caps and lids cannot go into kerbside recycling and can be recycled at the Caps & Lids Recycling Scheme at some supermarkets. At the same time, glass is infinitely recyclable.
For the FMCG sector, recycling and resource recovery are tied to broader priorities, including packaging innovation, compliance, and sustainability targets. Circular thinking is no longer optional and has slowly become embedded in how products are designed, manufactured, and delivered.
As Global Recycling Day is observed worldwide, it serves as a reminder that small, consistent actions across supply chains, production systems, and everyday operations can contribute to larger change.
What we put in our bins matters. Recycle more this Global Recycling Day.
