A report titled “More Jobs, Less Pollution: Growing the Recycling Economy in the U.S.,”prepared by an alliance of recycling advocates and labor unions claims that reaching a national recycling rate of 75 percent by 2030 would create nearly 1.5 million jobs and reduce pollution.
Achieving a 75 percent diversion rate for municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition debris (C&D) by 2030 will result in:
- A total of 2.3 million jobs: Almost twice as many jobs as the projected 2030 Base Case Scenario, and about 2.7 times as many jobs as exist in 2008. There would be a significant number of additional indirect jobs associated with suppliers to this growing sector, and additional induced jobs from the increased spending by the new workers.
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions: The reduction of almost 515 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (eMTCO2) from diversion activities, an additional 276 million eMTCO2 than the Base Case, equivalent to emissions from about 72 coal power plants or taking 50 million cars off the road.
- Less pollution overall: Significant reductions in a range of conventional and toxic emissions that impact human and ecosystem health.
- Unquantified benefits of reducing ecological pressures associated with use of non-renewable resources, conserving energy throughout the materials economy, and generating economic resiliency through stable, local employment.
To see the whole report click here.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
Related Posts
Recycling In America: More Than Just A Feel Good Experience
Recycling Waste Tires
America Recycles Day (ARD)
PepsiCo Canada’s 100% Recycled EcoGreen Bottle Breakthrough
LG’s Recycling Leadership
TerraCycle Reach a Major Milestone in Non-Recyclables
GreenBlue’s Packaging Design
Microsoft Selects Greys Harbor for 100% Recycled Paper
Steve Jobs: Apple’s Product Recycling Efforts
The 3 Stages of a Recycling Loop
Study on US Environmental Attitudes
Coke’s Zero Waste Carbon Neutral Olympic Sponsorship
HP’s Sustainable Innovation
Best Practices for Sustainable Businesses
Video: Does Your Business Recycle?
Video: Profitable Recycling for Business
Video: The Perils of Plastic Waste
House Made of Plastic Bottles in Nigeria
Video: Plastic Bottle Greenhouse
Video: House Built With Plastic Bottles
Discover more from Change Oracle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
