On the eve of America Recycles Day, a report prepared by an alliance of recycling advocates and labor unions claims that reaching a national recycling rate of 75 percent by 2030 would create nearly 1.5 million jobs and reduce
pollution.
Entitled "More Jobs, Less Pollution: Growing the Recycling Economy in the U.S.," the
report was prepared by the Tellus Institute for the BlueGreen Alliance,
Service Employees International Union, National Resources Defense Council, Teamsters, Recycling Works!, and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
The report's findings will be the subject of a panel
discussion tomorrow at 3 p.m. with Senator Tom Carper of Delaware and Representative Frank
Pallone of New Jersey at the
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
Key report findings
Achieving a 75 percent diversion rate for municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition debris (C&D) by 2030 will result in:
- A total of 2.3 million jobs: Almost twice as many jobs as the projected 2030 Base Case Scenario, and about 2.7 times as many jobs as exist in 2008. There would be a significant number of additional indirect jobs associated with suppliers to this growing sector, and additional induced jobs from the increased spending by the new workers.
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions: The reduction of almost 515 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (eMTCO2) from diversion activities, an additional 276 million eMTCO2 than the Base Case, equivalent to emissions from about 72 coal power plants or taking 50 million cars off the road.
- Less pollution overall: Significant reductions in a range of conventional and toxic emissions that impact human and ecosystem health.
- Unquantified benefits of reducing ecological pressures associated with use of non-renewable resources, conserving energy throughout the materials economy, and generating economic resiliency through stable, local employment.
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We need to clean up what we're collecting and pay attention to what our domestic manufacturers are telling us. They need a CLEAN reliable supply of recyclables. Otherwise, those jobs will be created in the countries to which we're exporting our recyclables.
ReplyDeleteThis is a timely and valuable report. Last year, together with colleagues at URSUS Consulting I published a short study for Friends of the Earth Europe showing the job creation potential of a 70% recycling target here - estimated at over 70,000 new jobs in the UK alone and over 500,000 in the European Union. http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/jobs_recycling.pdf
ReplyDeleteOn the day when youth (18-24) unemployment in the UK just passed the 1 million mark, it would be a good time to revisit the potential of recycling and resource efficiency in Western Europe and North America to create useful employment in our local economies - meeting the triple bottom line of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental gains.
Recycling is a laudable goal, and I support efforts in that direction. This report, though--1.5MM jobs added by 2030? That's a trifle over 6000 jobs/month, not enough to even dent current unemployment. And I saw no mention of infrastructure costs to achieve 75% recycling.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is to find a way to develop recycling that offers its own strong economic incentives without the need for subsidies.
Just like any other business, if it can't be profitable on its own, it'll never make it long-term. Unfortunately, we're a ways away from that.
Earl Miller
http://www.linkedin.com/in/earlcmillerjr