New Report Highlights Europe's Recycling Growth

A report released by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has found recycling provides a significant economic benefit to Europe’s economy, from providing raw materials to creating jobs and encouraging business opportunities and innovation.
 

The report, Earnings, Jobs and Innovation: The Role of Recycling in a Green Economy, says in addition to diverting waste from landfills, recycling helps meet the material demands of economic production, preventing the environmental impacts associated with extracting and refining virgin materials.
 

According to the report, revenue generated from recycling has increased significantly. From 2004 to 2008 revenue from the seven main recyclable categories almost doubled to more than €60 billion (US $80 billion) in the European Union. However, demand and revenue from recyclables dropped at the end of 2008/early 2009 due to global economic problems, although revenue and collection levels have since rebounded.

The report also says the growth of recycling is being driven by the increasing demand for recyclables, especially from Asian sources. Another driver for the increase in the collection of recyclables has been the plethora of EU waste directives, which have created obligations to recycle or recover a growing amount of recyclables. Because of these two trends, the amount of recyclables sorted and placed on the market has increased 15 percent between 2004 and 2009.

The report says employment in the recycling industry has increased by 45 percent between 2000 and 2007. Despite the growth in recycling, the report claims that even maximum recycling cannot cover all EU demand for resources. Increased recycling can improve resource security, but economic growth driven by ever-increasing material consumption cannot be sustained, as it requires an infinite volume of resources.