ISRI welcomes Biden infrastructure drive

US recyclers have welcomed President Joe Biden’s commitment to prioritise sustainable and energy efficient materials as part of his recent US$ 2 trillion (EUR 840 billion) infrastructure initiative.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) also applauds the President’s proposal to support the nation’s transportation infrastructure ‘especially where it concerns revitalizing those networks that are key to transporting manufactured goods – the lifeblood of our economy’.

ISRI notes the commitment to sustainable and energy efficient materials in this process and urges Congress to back legislation promoting the use of recycled materials.

‘An improved transportation infrastructure is absolutely necessary to relieve the shipping bottlenecks that are harming manufacturing and exports,’ it says in a formal response to the infrastructure package. ‘As the first link in the manufacturing supply chain, recycling is integral to the US economy and is essential to the US and global manufacturing supply chain, supplying commodity-grade recyclable metals, paper, plastics, glass and rubber as feedstock for the production of new materials and goods.’

Moreover, ISRI adds, using recycled materials is a sustainable solution towards combating the climate crisis and making infrastructure more resilient. ‘With the industry recycling more than 130 million tonnes of commodity grade materials each year to transform out-dated or obsolete products and materials into useful raw materials needed to produce new products, recyclers are an action-ready and reliable source of material for such a massive proposed infrastructure overhaul, offering real, sustainable solutions for environmental stewardship.’

ISRI says it looks forward to working with members of Congress to influence a comprehensive infrastructure package that meets the needs of the recycling industry and to ensure reliable, climate-friendly solutions to infrastructure challenges.