The Importance of Investing in Recycling Now

The Recycling Partnership — a nonprofit “action agent” that seeks to transform the U.S. residential recycling system in positive ways — released a new report called, “Paying it Forward: Investment in Recycling Will Pay Dividends.”

In an introductory, accompanying post from Keefe Harrison, The Recycling Partnership’s CEO notes that, “We’re in a unique moment where the public, policy makers, and corporate leaders are all aligned on the need for a stronger, better system.” Further, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make huge strides in recycling.” Harrison emphasizes that the U.S. recycling isn’t broken; “it’s just not at the magnitude we need.” Recycling, she reminds readers, “provides jobs and a greener supply chain for manufacturing, but because there have never been systematic or large-scale investments, it is fragmented by geographic location and material type.”

The Recycling Partnership’s metrics, however, show that “through hard work, the right tools, and the appropriate investment, together we can make meaningful change.” And it starts with providing equitable access and high-quality, targeted education. “Build on that with upgraded infrastructure to sort and process more types of packaging, and we will see accelerated progress like never before for every material type.”

The report itself begins with a look at The Recycling Partnership’s key finding and supporting details on each, which are as below:

The report asserts that now is the time for the $17 billion investment because the data and other indicators show that:

But, in order to jump-start the U.S. recycling system, it explains, three things must be provided:

Ultimately, the report points out, recycling only works if everyone can participate and the materials collected can be processed effectively. And, as of now, recycling is “not provided evenly across the U.S.,” with 40% of Americans lacking equitable recycling, as well as the fact that “many packages currently found on store shelves cannot be recycled through residential programs.”

But, The Recycling Partnership asks readers to “imagine a fully built-out U.S. recycling system with complete equitable access added for more than 40 million underserved households. Then imagine all 120 million households across the country fully understanding what to recycle and when, in a manner that is relevant to them, while receiving tailored feedback to improve their recycling behavior. These households deliver 17 million new tons of recyclables annually to 375 upgraded and 57 new MRFs. We avoid an estimated $9.4 billion in landfill costs over the next ten years, preventing long-term environmental damage, creating an estimated $8.8 billion in new recyclable commodity value, and supporting 200,000 new jobs.” This is its vision for the future, and what it hopes will happen if the recommendations from its report are put into effect.

The Recycling Partnership’s recommended $17 billion investment takes into account $11 billion needed for infrastructure improvements and $6 billion for education investments over five years. An additional approximately $1.2 billion would be needed annually thereafter, for continued resident education. This investment would have “immediate positive impact, including an economic benefit of $30.8 billion over 10 years (including wages, taxes, landfill savings, and the value of recyclables).”

Other “significant environmental and financial benefits” would include:

The report digs deep into the data, the details of the investments it calls for, and the risks associated with inaction. It concludes that, “The headwinds are significant, and as we have seen over the past few decades of attempted interventions, the U.S. recycling system will not fix itself. The good news, however, is that there are proven solutions, the scale of the challenge is known, and it is all within our collective power to fix through dramatically expanded public-private partnerships and robust policy that provides sustainable funding.”

View the report here.