Global Recycling Day was born in the USA in 1994 before becoming global in 2018. It aims to raise awareness and inform on products made out of recycled materials consumption. Solution to reduce the emission of waste and preserve Earth natural resources, recycling will have to establish itself in the daily life of future generations.
Wastage, the scary numbers:
2 billion tons of wastage per year, therefore 740 grams per day per inhabitant, this is what the ever-growing global population produces nowadays. In France, on the 38 million tons of household waste, only 35% of recyclable materials are actually recycled versus 63% in Austria (numbers from the Recycling International Bureau).
Therefore, it is urgent to force mentalities and practices to change. Recycling is a major ecological issue, necessary for the environment and useful for socio-economics because the circular economy creates more and more jobs.
This is hundreds of million tons of CO2 that we can avoid discarding in the atmosphere by recycling to reduce the consumption of natural resources and therefore save energy. The younger generations are particularly concerned by the necessity to consume in a responsible manner.
Millennials, activist consumers?
Millennials or Generation Z are the youth aged between 18 and 25 who were born or raised in a global pollution context and climate change. They correspond to 30% of the global population. Are they ready to adapt the way they consume to preserve the planet the way their ambassador Greta Thunberg does?
According to a study from the consulting firm OC&C, for about 25% of them, sustainability is an essential criterion in their purchases. Thus, they favour multiple use fair trade organic products. They don’t settle for greenwashing but expect a true involvement from the brands they buy from.
Millennials tend to prefer sustainable housing, sustainable travels, sustainable daily use products and even sustainable fashion. Ecological or recycled materials, second hand garments, rented or swapped: the fashion industry will have to adapt to these new practices. This is why, IFA Paris has launched the Bachelor Fashion Sustainability