Page 8 from: December 2016
8 December 2016
N E W S
Obama urges Americans to maintain recycling habit
‘Today, we resolve to raise awareness
of the important role that reducing, reus-
ing and recycling can play in achieving a
more sustainable future.’ These words
form part of a proclamation from US
president Barack Obama, issued on
America Recycles Day which took place
on November 15.
‘Recycling is a process that allows mate-
rials that would otherwise be thrown out
to be manufactured into new materials
that can be used again,’ the proclamation
reads. ‘By decreasing landfill waste and
conserving important natural resources,
recycling can mitigate pollution, save
energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emis-
sions.’ Recycling also ‘strengthens our
economy and creates hundreds of thou-
sands of green jobs’, it adds.
Obama’s proclamation concludes: ‘I call
upon the people of the United States to
observe this day (America Recycles Day)
with appropriate programs and activities,
and I encourage all Americans to con-
tinue their reducing, reusing and recy-
cling efforts throughout the year.’
To coincide with America Recycles Day,
the US Institute of Scrap Recycling Indus-
tries issued a statement confirming recy-
cling as ‘the first link in the manufactur-
ing supply chain’. In 2015 alone, it
pointed out, the US recycling industry
transformed more than 130 million
tonnes of scrap metal, paper, plastic,
glass, textiles, rubber and electronics into
specification-grade commodities for use
in new products. The nation also export-
ed more than 37 million tonnes of scrap
commodities, valued at US$ 17.5 billion.
The US scrap recycling industry directly
and indirectly supplied more than 470
000 Americans with employment last
year, it is added. These workers earned
US$ 30.8 billion in wages and benefits,
with the industry paying US$ 11.2 billion
in direct federal, state and local taxes.
MSW recycling rate shows minimal growth in USA
The overall recycling rate for munic-
ipal solid waste in the USA increased to
34.6% in 2014, up 0.3 percentage points
from that of the previous year, according
to the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Municipal solid waste gen-
eration increased to 258.5 million tonnes
in the same year, up 1.4% compared to
2013. Recycling and composting grew
2.2% to 89.4 million tonnes.
According to the EPA, recycling of glass
decreased by 1.5 percentage points to
32.5% while corrugated boxes achieved
a recycling rate of 89.5% and the steel
cans figure moved up 0.1 percentage
points to 70.7%. Aluminium beverage
containers remained flat at 55.1%
whereas PET bottles and jars came in at
31.2% for a decline of 0.1 percentage
points. On the organics side, yard debris
saw a national recovery rate of 61.1%
for a one percentage point increase while
recovery of food scrap/food-soiled papers
remained at 5.1%. Paper and paperboard
recovery volumes grew by 1.4 percentage
points to 64.7% in 2014.
While there was a year-on-year increase
in the volume of material landfilled in the
USA, the EPA notes that the 2014 total
of 136 million tonnes was still 6.4%
below the peak recorded in 1990.
The EPA has also released an update of
the broader environmental impact of
materials recovery efforts in the USA.
Based on latest figures, recycling and
reuse activities accounted for 757 000
jobs, US$ 36.6 billion in wages and US$
6.7 billion in tax revenues.
EPA representative Mathy Stanislaus
comments: ‘America’s great strides
toward prioritising recycling are evident.
We’ve educated our communities, citi-
zens and businesses to recycle more,
quadrupling our recycling rate since 1976
and creating a more sustainable world.’
