Will Sagar, policy director of the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), says he likes to keep his message to elected officials simple: Recycling creates jobs.
He told attendees of the 2011 Arkansas Recycling Coalition Conference that the SERDC has chosen to concentrate on this aspect of the recycling industry as opposed to an environmental message because it is an aspect that cuts across political party and ideological lines.
The SERDC’s website helps corporations involved in recycling, recycling program coordinators and solid waste officials in 11 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) to present the “recycling = jobs” case to legislators and others involved in making policy decisions.
The organization helped fund a College of Charleston study that found for every 1,000 tons of recycled material collected and used as feedstock in South Carolina, 1.68 jobs are created. Those jobs create $79,000 in personal income and $3,600 in state tax income.
He told the Arkansas audience that if the state raised its landfill diversion rate by 10 percent, it would likely create about 620 new jobs, $29 million in personal income and $1.3 million in state tax receipts.
“We want to convince [elected officials] their investments in recycling collection are investments in jobs,” said Sagar.
Sagar said the SERDC has gathered considerable data that can be used in all 11 SERDC states, with the website now serving as a useful resource when such arguments need to be made.
He also indicated, though, that in states including Georgia and Virginia, decisions are being made to de-emphasize recycling or even solid waste planning. “We’re going back to the 1980s,” he said regarding Georgia’s decision to no longer require country solid waste plans.
The irony is especially evident in the Georgia situation, where paper mills that consume scrap paper and carpet fiber plants that consume PET bottles are abundant. SERDC draws considerable sponsorship dollars from Georgia, and its board and executive committee include people from companies that use large amounts of recycled-content feedstock, including Caraustar, Coca-Cola , Rock-Tenn and Shaw Industries.
The SERDC will be hosting an event in late October in Memphis, Tenn., to further spread its message. More information on the “Recycling & The Economy” symposium , Oct. 26-27, can be found at http://www.serdc.org/symposium.
The Arkansas Recycling Coalition’s 21st Annual Conference & Trade Show was Sept. 19-21 in Eureka Springs, Ark.
Arkansas Recycling Coalition: Stressing the Economic Point
SERDC helps recyclers craft a job creation message to legislators.