The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) says its second quarter Industry Business Conditions analysis points to improved conditions in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter.
The report includes data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Survey and responses to NWRA’s quarterly business conditions survey conducted among its more than 800 member companies. NWRA says its members includes both those who collect and process solid waste and recyclable materials and manufacturers and service providers who supply the industry.
Among the findings of the second quarter NWRA analysis were:
- second quarter revenue rose 10.3 percent to $21.76 billion, following a first quarter drop of 11.7 percent, which NWRA says was attributable to winter weather and depressed global commodities prices;
- industry revenue for the first half of 2015 was $41.5 billion, down 5.3 percent from the same period in 2014;
- more than half (58 percent) of respondents to the NWRA Business Conditions Survey predict economic conditions will improve in the next three to six months;
- nearly one-half of respondents reported increases in employment in the second quarter; and
- 30 percent of respondents expect to increase employment while two-thirds expect employment to hold steady.
“The industry data for the quarter shows solid economic conditions for the industry,” says Bret Biggers, director of standards and statistics for NWRA. “While the industry continues to be subject to increased costs and the extreme fluctuations in global commodity markets, we are seeing strength in the sector in terms of increasing revenue, and only four percent of survey respondents expecting to reduce employment as we head into the winter months.”
Washington-based NWRA collects and analyzes business conditions through a survey of its member companies and takes into consideration industry revenue data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Survey for the waste sector.