Achieving a national recycling rate of 75% would create 2.3 million jobs (by 2030), reduce pollution and improve public health, and generate strong local economies with stable employment bases, according to a report released today.
The US has been hovering at about a 27% recycling rate for the past 20 years, and has still created an enormous recycling economy.
Last month, California passed legislation that targets 75% recycling by 2020 (the state stands at about 66% right now) and Florida set the same target in 2010. Oregon has reached a 50% recycling rate. California’s first recycling law, implemented 21 years ago, created 125,000 jobs.
Many people aren’t aware of the central role the recycling industry plays in our economy. In 2007, this backbone of our economy pulled in $236 billion in revenue and employed over a million people. That year, the industry accounted for about 2% the U.S. gross domestic product.
Diverting 75% of municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris through recycling and composting would result in 2.3 million direct recycling jobs, and that doesn’t include industrial waste.
It would also reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to 72 coal-fired power plants or taking 50 million cars off the road, and reduce toxic emissions that impact human and ecosystem health.
We’d also vastly reduce the amount of energy the US consumes, since it takes much less energy to produce products from waste than it does from virgin sources. For example, using recycled aluminum eliminates almost 96% of the energy and emissions than producing it from pure bauxite ore.
Jobs would be created in:
(1) Recycling Industries: collection and processing of recyclables to make them available for use in new industrial processes;
(2) Recycling Reliant Industries, those that purchase secondary materials from the Recycling Industry;
(3) Reuse and Remanufacturing Industries: industries that directly reuse and/or remanufacture products for their original use.
"More Jobs, Less Pollution," is produced by the Tellus Institute on behalf of the BlueGreen Alliance, SEIU, NRDC, Teamsters, Recycling Works!, and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
Here’s the report:
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