Your complete guide to recycling and low-waste living

Did you know that Apple is launching 5 new iPhone models in 2025? The 16e, 17, 17 Pro, 17 Max and iPhone Air have all made their way into stores around the world, and the company has launched the 17e this year.

From shiny new brands and buzzy launches to the latest physical media renaissance, there’s never been a better time to sell products and, depending on who you ask, buy them – but what happens when a product reaches its natural (or social) life cycle? More often than not, it gets wasted.

According to the United Nations and World Bank:

• 92 million tons Textile waste generated annually
• 19-23 million tons Plastic waste pollutes lakes, rivers and oceans every year
• one fifth Food produced for human consumption, approx. 1 billion meals a daylost or wasted for more than one year

It is estimated that by 2050, the world is expected to generate 3.4 billion tons of waste every year. So, with one of the warmest years on record, increasing landfill sites and changing consumer trends driven by increasing digital adoption, how do we reduce waste in a world that is more connected than ever? The answer may be simpler than you think.

In this article, we explore the impact of recycling, the future of recycling and sustainable technologies, and give you some top tips to help you waste less and think more about the opportunities recycling can offer.

What is Global Recycling Day?

Global Recycling Day, celebrated every year on March 18, is known as “the world’s most important celebration of recycling” and aims to raise awareness and celebrate the importance of recycling and the role it plays in creating a more sustainable future. The awareness day was founded in 2018 by Ranjit Baxi, founding chairman of the Global Recycling Foundation, who was also the first to call recycling the “seventh resource”, alongside natural resources such as air, water, coal, oil, minerals and natural gas.

Why is recycling important?

For many of us, recycling has long been something we do on a regular basis, or at least know we should. The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” has become ingrained in our culture (thanks to decades of campaigns) and is one of the easiest ways to contribute to a less wasteful society, but why is it so important?

Simply put, recycling reduces waste sent to landfills and the carbon footprint of manufacturing new products. Recycling can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 700 million tons, which is expected to increase to 1 billion tons by 2030.

Recycling also creates new production pathways. Unlike the traditional model where products end their life cycle after use, recycling is a key player in the circular economy, saving energy and resources and reusing materials multiple times, giving them new life again and again. That’s why reducing waste is key to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12.

Top tips to help reduce waste

If you’re thinking about how to get started, check out some great tips below.

1. Start at home

Our first tip? Start by understanding what you use in your home and how often. Check your local government website for specific recycling guidelines, but in general you should wash and clean items before recycling, and separate items by material (usually glass, plastic, metallic paper and cardboard). Depending on where you live, you may also be able to request specific recycling bags or bins to help speed up the process.

2. Give items new life

You’ve probably heard of upcycling by now, but if not, it’s essentially when you update, remodel, or repair old items, often finding new ways to continue using them. This is a great way to extend the life of your products, not only helping save more stuff from being thrown into landfills, but it also gives people a pipeline to create their own unique, one-of-a-kind products, which may come in handy when running a business.

3. Be more purposeful when purchasing

Whether it’s going to the library, swapping plastic water bottles for refillable steel ones, choosing paper, bamboo or steel instead of single-use plastics, buying secondhand, buying from low-waste stores and markets, or even just buying less, there’s so much you can do to shop and live sustainably.

4. Consider sustainable or recycled materials

It’s no secret that fast fashion is one of the biggest polluters in the world. Part of the reason for this is that many fast fashion brands’ clothes are made from non-biodegradable materials like polyester, nylon and acrylic, which means they end up sitting in landfills for hundreds of years, if not longer.

Next time you’re shopping for new clothes, look for clothes that are Fair Trade certified, GOTS certified, or made from organic materials like cotton, hemp, or linen.

5. Try new things

The more you think about your spending, the more likely you’ll start to notice how each of these steps can improve or decrease based on your time, resources, location, and lifestyle. This step is no different. While growing your own food may immediately make you think of a large plot of land or a lush vegetable garden, growing your own food can be as simple as growing vegetables on your windowsill or fruit in containers.

6. Discover your purchasing power

Where, when and how you choose to spend your money has the potential to make a difference. Choosing to buy from a company is like a vote of confidence—if a manufacturer sees that fewer people are buying from them because of their practices, policies, or supply chain, they are more likely to make a change (rather than suffer a huge financial loss). So next time you’re thinking about shopping, don’t forget to vote with your wallet.

What can we expect in the future?

We know more about climate change than ever before, so what happens next?

Disposal of e-waste

The more we use digital technology, the greater the need to recycle the electronic devices we use, such as mobile phones, laptops and the batteries that power our devices. According to reports, the clean technology market will grow to US$1,844.7 billion by 2030, but we can also foresee that electronic waste (e-waste) will become a greater challenge. If you are interested in learning more about e-waste, explore our range of courses in partnership with EIT RawMaterials.

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Smarter solutions for food production

Experts are clear on this – to keep up with the pace of change, we need to invest in skills and technologies to build resilient and sustainable food systems, whether through the use of new digital tools, environmental regulation, full life cycle assessments or greenhouse gas reporting.

Skills to support a sustainable future

According to LinkedIn’s Green Skills Report, recruitment rates for jobs requiring green skills are 46.6% higher than the global workforce as a whole. Green skills are in high demand, with industries such as utilities, technology and media growing the fastest, and this number is only expected to continue to grow.

Call for transparency, not greenwashing

As consumers become more savvy and informed, it is not enough to simply sell products made from recycled materials if the products will end up in landfills after use. In the coming years, we will see more companies providing transparency in supply, production, distribution and waste management in an effort to retain customers in a growing market.

Also how to take action

If you’re ready to take action in other areas, consider workforce. For anyone looking to make a career change, you may be interested in a variety of career paths based on your skills, experience, and interests.

You might want to work in renewable energy, wildlife conservation, animal welfare, green technology, or even as a professional consultant or sustainability officer, but you can take on any role, just look at what your company is currently doing (you can usually find this by looking at their governance or ESG policies) and see how you can incorporate more sustainable practices into your work.

Courses and degrees to support your studies

• EIT RawMaterials Reduce electronic waste through design, standards, operations and policies
• E-Waste Challenge by EIT RawMaterials
• Circular cities: building sustainable business models Deakin University
• Planning for sustainability: recycling and waste in a circular economy Deakin University
• International Culinary Studio introduces sustainable practices in foodservice
• The Future of Business: Sustainable Business through Green Human Resources RMIT University
• Business sustainability: building a green future University of Leeds
• University of New England (UNE) Bachelor of Sustainability
• Falmouth University MSc Sustainable Fashion
• MBA in Innovation, Enterprise and Circular Economy at the University of Bradford