The National Recycling Economic Information Study reached the following conclusions:

Recycling and Reuse Add Value to the U.S. Economy 

Recycling is a Diverse Industry

Recycling is Competitive with Other Major Industries

Local Recycling and Reuse Spur "Downstream" Economic Impacts

Reuse Businesses Contribute Significantly

Recycling and Reuse Add Value to the U.S. Economy

According to the study, the recycling and reuse industry consists of approximately 56,000 establishments that employ over 1.1 million people, generate an annual payroll of nearly $37 billion, and gross over $236 billion in annual revenues. This represents a significant force in the U.S. economy and makes a vital contribution to job creation and economic development.

Estimates of Direct Economic Activity
Annual Payroll and Estimated Receipts are in $1,000. Throughput is in
Thousands of Tons. Click for the plain text version of this table">

¹ Throughput is amount of recovered material recycled and includes manufacturing scrap sent for recycling. It excludes materials prepared for fuel use and in-house process scrap returned to the manufacturing process. Throughput estimates are summed to avoid triple counting at collection, processing, and manufacturing stages.

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Recycling is a Diverse Industry

Recycling is an integrated system that starts with curbside collection of materials by municipalities, involves processing of recycled materials, and leads to manufacturing of new products with recycled content. The study identified 26 different types of recycling organizations. The recycling sector includes long-established sectors like paper and steel making, as well as new entrepreneurial ventures such as composting and plastic and rubber product manufacturers.  Four major manufacturing industries account for over half of the economic activity of the recycling and reuse industry:

• Recycled paper and paperboard mills, which employ 139,375 people and gross nearly $49 billion in estimated annual receipts;
• Steel mills, which employ 118,544 people and gross $46 billion in estimated annual receipts;
• Recycled plastics converters, which employ 178,700 people and gross nearly $28 billion in estimated annual receipts; and
• Iron and steel foundries, which employ 126,313 people and gross over $16 billion in annual estimated receipts.
  

The recycling industry also includes companies that are quickly finding a market niche, including computer demanufacturing, organics composters, and plastic lumber manufacturers.

Recycling Manufacturing Industry Employment by
Major Material Group

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Recycling is Competitive with Other Major Industries

As a driver of economic activity, the recycling industry compares favorably to other key industries, such as automobile manufacturing and mining. Especially significant is the finding that recycling far outpaces the waste management industry because recycling adds value to materials, contributing to a growing labor force. Recycling also provides a large number of jobs that generally pay above the average national wage.

Comparison of Industry Employment

Comparison of Annual Wages per Job

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Local Recycling and Reuse Spur "Downstream" Economic Impacts

Investment in local recycling collection and processing, as well as strong government policies, spurs significant private sector investment in recycling manufacturing and promotes economic growth. The study tallied this "indirect" impact of recycling on support industries, such as accounting firms and office supply companies, for a total of 1.4 million jobs supported by the recycling and reuse industry. These jobs have a payroll of $52 billion and produce $173 billion in receipts.

Spending by employees of the recycling and reuse industry also contributes indirectly and adds another 1.5 million jobs with a payroll of $41 billion and produces receipts of $146 billion. The recycling and reuse industry also generated roughly $12.9 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues, with 80 percent going to federal and state government.

Contribution of Recycling and Reuse to Government
Revenues - Direct Effects Revenues (in $ millions)

Contribution of Recycling and Reuse to Government
Revenues - Total Effects Revenues (in $ millions)

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Reuse Businesses Contribute Significantly

The reuse industry is widespread and ranges from more traditional establishments such as local thrift stores and antique shops to more recent, dynamic operations such as computer demanufacturers, pallet rebuilders, and materials exchanges. As a whole, the reuse industry employs nearly 170,000 workers in more than 26,000 establishments nationwide. The reuse industry also supports an annual payroll of $2.7 billion and generates revenues of approximately $14.1 billion.

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