Taking recycling seriously

Today, and March 18th annually, is Global Recycling Day 世界リサイクルデー (sekai recycle day). Global Recycling Day invites us to pause and consider the materials we use every day, and how much of them can be returned to the world rather than thrown away. Established in 2018 by the Global Recycling Foundation, the day highlights recycling as the planet’s “seventh resource,” standing alongside water, air, oil, natural gas, minerals, and soil. 

The idea is simple but powerful: by treating waste as a resource, we reduce pressure on the Earth’s limited raw materials and help slow the pace of climate change. Around the world, communities mark the day with clean‑up events, educational programs, and small, practical reminders about sorting household waste, choosing reusable items, and supporting products made from recycled materials. In Japan, where recycling systems are already detailed and community‑based, the day offers a chance to appreciate the quiet effort behind collection, sorting, and reuse. It also encourages us to look again at our own habits and consider whether we are doing enough.

My home country has caught up (and overtaken) in the last 26 years, but when I first came to Japan, people recycled a lot more here than at home. When I first arrived in 2000, I was quite in awe of Japan's recycling system, it was far more detailed than at home. Moreover, I was (am) impressed by how seriously recycling was, and still is, taken in Japan.