An optical recording medium includes a recording layer containing an alloy represented by a general formula: (Ti_xM1_x)_yM2_y, where element M1 is Si or Al, element M2 is an element selected from the group consisting of Si, Al and Fe and different from the element M1, x is equal to or larger than 0.3 and equal to or smaller than 0.8, and y is equal to or larger than 0.75 and equal to or smaller than 1. The thus constituted optical recording medium only places minimal load on the global environment.