Municipal Recycling

STUDY TOUTS RECYCLING'S ECONOMIC BENEFITS

The South Carolina Recycling Market Development Advisory Council has released results from an economic impact study showing that recycling plays an important role in the state’s economy.

According to the study conducted by Frank Hefner and Calvin Blackwell, economists at the College of Charleston, the recycling industry creates an estimated $6.5 billion of total economic impact in the state. This can be attributed to the more than 300 recycling companies in South Carolina, including haulers, processors, recycled product manufacturers and equipment manufacturers.

The study suggests that the recycling industry is growing and that new markets for recyclables are emerging. The recycling industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12 percent per year throughout the next five years, leading to a potential $11 billion economic impact, according to the findings.

"In 2004, the cost to landfill 1 ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) was $32. Adjusting for inflation, if all of the recyclable material in landfills had been recycled, that would have saved more than $30 million," Hefner says.

Future goals of the statewide council, which consists of recycling industry representatives as well as public and governmental representatives, include defining recycling as an economic cluster in South Carolina, increasing the capital investment in South Carolina’s recycling industry and helping to expand recycling related jobs.

The study was commissioned by the council, which is part of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

More information is available at www.sccommerce.com/recycling.html.