World Recycling Day
November 15
    Over the past 30 years, humanity has consumed a third of the Earth’s available resources. Resource consumption increases by 1.5 percent each year. Therefore, conserving natural resources, exploring alternative resources, and recycling raw materials are becoming increasingly important.
    In recent years, the world’s population has quadrupled, and industrial production has grown nearly 20-fold. However, modern technology cannot adequately purify air and water or recycle industrial waste. Currently, approximately 80 billion tons of waste have accumulated in landfills. And these mountains are growing because only a third of byproducts are recycled. Every year, people throw away more and more packaging, tires, and household appliances. Today, waste recycling is once again on the agenda. Giving waste a second life helps save significant amounts of raw materials and energy. Â
     Waste paper, packaging, glass, wood, metal, and household appliances are recycled worldwide—waste recycling has become one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Yet, we generously send it all to landfills.Â
Recycling Day is held to raise public and industrial awareness of the problem of waste recycling. This day is an appropriate time to hold recycling events for non-ferrous and ferrous metals, used tires, plastic bottles, and paper. On this day, Russian cities are hosting the “Ecology-Recycling” campaign, “Forest Guardians,” and “Attack on Plastic.”
     Paper recycling can help protect forests from deforestation, as wastepaper is an alternative to paper production. In Western countries, executives seeking to cultivate an environmentally friendly image have long used recycled office paper, which is produced without the use of living trees.
     Of course, this problem cannot be solved by volunteer efforts. Scientists see a way out of this critical situation in the creation of a national waste management strategy, the involvement of scientists and industrialists in this process, and the development of environmental and economic incentives to transition production to low-waste technologies. In many regions of the country, the insufficient number of landfills for waste disposal remains a problem – household and industrial waste, especially large-tonnage waste from the energy and chemical industries. Issues regarding the use of ash and slag from thermal power plants by regional enterprises remain unresolved, and there is a lack of glass recycling capacity. Polymer waste, including polyethylene waste, etc., is practically not recycled.Â
     Waste paper, packaging, glass, wood, metal, and household appliances are recycled worldwide—waste recycling has become one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Yet, we generously send it all to landfills.Â
Recycling Day is held to raise public and industrial awareness of the problem of waste recycling. This day is an appropriate time to hold recycling events for non-ferrous and ferrous metals, used tires, plastic bottles, and paper. On this day, Russian cities are hosting the “Ecology-Recycling” campaign, “Forest Guardians,” and “Attack on Plastic.”
     Paper recycling can help protect forests from deforestation, as wastepaper is an alternative to paper production. In Western countries, executives seeking to cultivate an environmentally friendly image have long used recycled office paper, which is produced without the use of living trees.
     Of course, this problem cannot be solved by volunteer efforts. Scientists see a way out of this critical situation in the creation of a national waste management strategy, the involvement of scientists and industrialists in this process, and the development of environmental and economic incentives to transition production to low-waste technologies. In many regions of the country, the insufficient number of landfills for waste disposal remains a problem – household and industrial waste, especially large-tonnage waste from the energy and chemical industries. Issues regarding the use of ash and slag from thermal power plants by regional enterprises remain unresolved, and there is a lack of glass recycling capacity. Polymer waste, including polyethylene waste, etc., is practically not recycled.Â