ISRI Efforts Help Grow Congressional Recycling Caucuses

ISRI is touting the growth of the House and the Senate Recycling Caucuses, which doubled to 128 members in the last year, following the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) member fly-in to Capitol Hill in June and year-round in-district outreach efforts. 

“ISRI is grateful to the Senators and Representatives who have joined the Recycling Caucus,” ISRI President Robin Wiener says. “The caucus is an important tool to educate policymakers about the important role the recycling industry plays in the creation of jobs in the United States, and the positive impact on the balance of trade, the environment and sustainable development.”

ISRI members from descended on Capitol Hill, visiting more than 100 offices June 26 to urge legislators to join the caucuses and to learn more about the scrap recycling industry.  ISRI says its members continue their outreach throughout the year, making individual visits, attending political events and holding facility tours aimed at introducing the industry to federal lawmakers.

Since 2006, the House Recycling Caucus has grown to 106 members.  The Senate Recycling Caucus has grown to 22 members.

The caucus aims to study the legislative effect on recycling in a variety of areas, including trade, commerce and environmental policy. Chief among these, according to ISRI, is the effort to address the definition of solid waste to reflect that “scrap is not waste” and “recycling is not disposal.”

Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) co-chair the Senate caucus. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Paul Gillmor (R-OH) co-chair the House caucus.  

Additional information about the House or Senate Recycling Caucus is available by contacting Billy Johnson at (202) 662-8548 or billyjohnson@isri.org or Mark Reiter at (202) 662-8517 or markreiter@isri.org.

For a complete list of the Congressional Recycling Caucus members, click here.