Global Recycling Day

Today is Global Recycling Day – an important day here at RIPA Global and worldwide. Recycling plays an important role in our circular economy, one that sees the resources we utilise being reused for as long as possible. 

The circular economy is aimed at reducing the waste and single use of our natural resources by keeping those materials circulating through our economy. It recognises that our resources are finite and we must strive to create a world that aims to restore and regenerate our natural resources.

Recycling is often referred to as our ‘seventh resource’ because of it’s role in our circular economy. This seventh resource saves over 700 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, with it expected to rise to 1 billion tonnes by 2030. However, the Circulatory Gap Report 2020 found that only 8.6% of resources are reused, dropping from 9.1% in 2018 – backtracking on our goal to close the gap.

While we have previously explained that thermal receipts are not recyclable, they are large contributor in why we cannot close this circular economy ring, with colossal amounts of waste and carbon emitted in their wake.

Global Recycling Day has two important missions:

(As outlined by The Global Recycling Foundation).

• To tell world leaders that recycling is simply too important not to be a global issue and that a common, joined-up approach to recycling is urgently needed.

• To ask people across the planet to think resource – not waste, when it comes to the goods around us – until this happens, we simply won’t award recycled goods the true value and repurpose they deserve.

Recycling in New Zealand:

Waste in New Zealand is a serious problem, and the lack of recycling we are doing as a collective is only adding to that. Each year, we dump 15.5 million tonnes of waste, with only 28% of this being recycled.

In 2018, the Ministry for the Environment said there were huge opportunities for recycling paper and cardboard within New Zealand, as the fibres were some of the biggest contributors to recycling exports into China. However, with China no longer accepting most recycling waste and New Zealand still exporting 70% of recycling in Spring 2020, it begs the question - where does our recycling go?

The good news is that earlier this year, New Zealand joined the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency. This alliance aims to progress strategies and initiatives that support the growth of a circular economy. 

Our mission:

Here at RIPA, we strive to foster the circular economy by stopping the millions of receipts touched and trashed by people and businesses globally.

Receipts may not be recyclable but they are a huge contributor to our greenhouse gas waste, with 12 billion pounds of CO2 emissions being released from them every year. 

RIPA Expenses is the only expensing software that collects line-item receipt data straight from the point of sale through QR code technology – completely eliminating the need for a paper receipt. 

This Global Recycling Day, we urge you to recycle wherever you can, but also to look at your waste output as an opportunity to see what you can do to improve.