What is it?
Recycle Week is Recycle Now’s flagship annual event, which is a celebration of recycling across the nation, running from the 19th -25th September. It’s the one week of the year where retailers, brands, waste management companies, trade associations, governments and the media come together to achieve one goal: to galvanise the public into recycling more of the right things, more often.
Getting Real About Recycling
Each year Recycle Week is accompanied by a running theme, highlighting an area of recycling to be the main focus for improvement. This year’s theme is ‘Getting Real About Recycling’.
Recycle Now explains its theme as follows:
“We’re a nation of real recyclers. Real people, with real lives that sometimes get in the way. Forgot to rinse after a long day? We’ve all been there. And everyone chucks without checking once in a while. But the reality is that wrong items can spoil the bunch, and make whole lorry loads un-recyclable. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still room to grow.”
Now in its 19th year, it has really become a flagship event with heavy hitting brands such as Coca-Cola, Danone, Innocent, McDonalds, Ocado and Natural Source Waters being some of its biggest sponsors.
Stepping It Up: 2021 Recycle Week Highlights
In 2021 Recycle Week welcomed a huge variety of campaign activities all across the nation. This included three striking murals on prominent buildings in Belfast, Newcastle, and London. Each created by local artists who interpreted the ‘Step It Up’ theme. The artworks were created using Ambient Pro paint, which absorbs CO2 and cleans the air of toxins, clever stuff!
The week’s events were also championed by celebrity ambassador JJ Chalmers; Invictus Games athlete/TV presenter and Strictly Come Dancing Star.
Reasons To Love Recycle Week
- The week highlights the opportunity for us all to read up and improve our knowledge on recycling and how to protect the environment.
- A real chance to do something for our communities, local and national. With many big organisations involved it’s the perfect opportunity to lend a hand and get involved.
- A reminder of the importance of recycling, we can reflect and review our habits and be conscious of the ones that are more damaging to the environment. By recycling, we have a positive impact on reducing waste, saving resources/energy and protecting the environment.
Help Promote Recycle Week
Want to get involved this Recycle Week, here are some simple and effective ways to get involved:
- The simplest way to get involved is by making a concerted effort to recycle more at home. Newspapers, magazines, aluminium cans, and plastic bottles can all be recycled for starters.
- Share it on social media, let friends and family know about the importance of recycling during the week. Post your recycling activities on social platforms to help encourage others to do the same.
- Read up and re-educate yourself on how recycling aids sustainable development and its positive impact on the environment.
If you want to be even more creative, you could organise one of the following for family and friends:
- Recycling sorting activities.
- Recycle Week scavenger hunt.
- Recycling quiz.
- Creative writing activities on how to help protect the planet.
If you want to find out even more about this year’s Recycle Week you can head here and if you would like to become a Recycle Week partner to get your business and colleagues more involved you can head here for a partner pack with lots of info on the theme and ways to get involved.
