The Recycling Partnership applauds the release of EPA鈥檚 first-ever Recycling Needs Survey and Assessment聽and is calling on Congress to pass legislation that includes a recycling infrastructure investment tax credit which will help further unlock the economic and environmental benefits of recycling and a circular economy.
The聽 Partnership collaborated with Congressional leadership to call for this report in the聽FY2021 appropriations process, delivering on our mission to build a better recycling system. To realize these economic benefits, The Partnership is advocating for the inclusion of a recycling infrastructure tax credit as Congress considers policy changes that will enable domestic manufacturing and resilient local economies.
To recycle the more than 40 million tons of packaging materials are landfilled or incinerated every year, the EPA estimates that $22-28 billion in domestic investment is needed. The report also highlights that leveraging a combination of public and private investment is critical to protecting natural resources, bolstering local economies, and ensuring that everyone who wants to recycle can recycle.
鈥淭he needs assessment demonstrates that investing in domestic recycling can pay dividends for local communities and the American economy,鈥澛爏aid Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership.聽鈥淥ur mission is to build a better recycling system, one that delivers the economic and environmental benefits our communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who work throughout the recycling industry deserve. This new data from the EPA makes clear the challenges ahead but also the opportunity for collective action to transform the way we use, reuse, and recycle materials.鈥�
The Recycling Needs Survey and Assessment serves as an important first step for Congress in strengthening the U.S. recycling system, helping to identify and prioritize investments and improvements to capture the full economic value of recycling.
Investments in the U.S. recycling system are investments in American manufacturing, local jobs, and resilient domestic supply chains. The Recycling Partnership鈥檚 2021聽Paying It Forward Report聽quantifies that access to recycling on par with trash service for everyone across the U.S. would provide $11 billion in new wages, $9.4 billion in landfill cost savings for municipalities and create approximately 200,000 new jobs.
鈥淎s we partner with states to implement Extended Producer Responsibility, we continue to realize the tremendous opportunity we have to advance our domestic recycling system,鈥澛燢ate Davenport, Chief Policy Officer at The Recycling Partnership.聽鈥淭his monumental data from EPA lays the framework for needed national investments, and we look forward to working with Congress and other key partners to continue to unlock the economic and environmental benefits of recycling and a circular economy.鈥�