75% National Recycling Rate = 1.5 Million Jobs

I consider myself in the pleasant company of about 33-37% of Americans who currently recycle. I'm sure I have heartfelt blog post in me about the environmental and ethical reasons to recycle.

This time, though, I want to focus on the findings of a recent report that the United States could create 1.5 million jobs if the national recycling rate reached 75%.

The text juxtaposes a Base Case analysis characterized basically by a continuation of the current recycling participation trends and practices over the next two decades with a Green Economy scenario based on enhancing national recycling and composting practices to an overall diversion rate of 75% away from landfilling by 2030. 

Landfilling materials is a process that isn't labor intensive and it creates fewer jobs per ton of waste (0.1 job per 1,000 tons) for its management.

Processing recycleables (1 to 2 jobs per 1,000 tons) and organics (0.5 jobs per 1,000 tons) is somewhat intensive. A manufacturing process which uses recycled materials is where the numbers open up a wider margin.

The report ends by throwing the Lorax in me a nod and finding that the 75% national recycling rate scenario would reduce CO2 emissions by 276 million metric tons by 2030.