Photo courtesy ISRI
A study done by Florida-based John Dunham and Associates for the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) finds that the U.S. recycling industry contributes $116 billion in economic output to the national economy, according to preliminary data released by ISRI April 22.
The study also finds that the U.S. recycling industry is directly responsible for more than 159,000 jobs. Also, the industry supports 346,499 jobs are indirectly through suppliers and services.
“As the industry is gathered virtually for our ISRI2021 annual convention this year, we are proud to celebrate how recycling plays an essential role in not only our environment but also in the U.S. and global economies,” says ISRI President Robin Wiener. “As the world recovers from a global pandemic, the resilience of the recycling industry once again shines through with a total economic output that is up 6.4 percent compared with prepandemic levels.”
In addition to the industry’s economic impact, recycling benefits the environment in several ways:
- conserving limited natural resources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by significantly saving energy needed to manufacture everyday products;
- reducing the need to mine for new ore, cut down more trees and otherwise deplete our natural resources; and
- reducing the amount of material sent to landfills, thereby preserving land for better uses.
ISRI will release the full economic impact report, including state, congressional and export information in the next month.