Ameripen study praises public-private recycling partnerships

The Washington-based American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (Ameripen) has released a new study that shows public-private recycling market development efforts have generated as many as 1 million jobs and an economic impact of more than $89 billion since 1990.

The study, “Economic Impact of State Recycling Market Development: 1990-2023,” was commissioned by Ameripen and researched and analyzed by Florida-based John Dunham & Associates (JDA).

“States and municipalities across the United States are increasingly recognizing the importance of recycling, not only for its environmental and social benefits but also for its potential to drive economic growth," Ameripen says.

The trade groups says the same mentality is not absent at the federal level, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2019 National Framework for Advancing the U.S Recycling System calling for increased engagement with state recycling market initiatives.

Ameripen says to better understand the economic impact of current programs, it commissioned the study, which “represents the first deep-dive into the overall impact of state recycling marketing development, or the initiatives that states have taken over the past 30 years to create or expand markets for recycled materials.”

Such initiatives could identify new uses and applications for materials or focus on developing new technologies and processes to make recycling more efficient and cost-effective.

“While there have been various development efforts since the 1990s, the most lasting iteration comes in the form of recycling market development centers,” says Kyla Fisher, a program director at Ameripen.

“These programs connect and match state resources, usually environmental and commerce departments, with private sector parties to advance recycling success. As of 2023, there are seven state-specific programs and two regional collaboratives operating in the United States. That translates into a total of 19 states that engage in some type of development program.”

The study evaluated 24 recycling-dependent industries over the past three decades, predominately emphasizing packaging and related materials. After establishing the breakdown of recyclable materials to review, the study then examined the patterns across these materials within the 19 different states that either have their own development program or are part of a regional effort versus states that did not have any documented recycling market development programs.

Analysis conducted by JDA credited recycling market centers with the generation of nearly 260,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs over the past 33 years. “With state supplier data and other impacts included, that number balloons to 990,000 FTE jobs during the same period,” Ameripen says.

The study finds that recycling market centers have a beneficial effect on recycling-related industries in a state’s economy, and, much like other economic development programs at the state level, assistance such as grants, tax forgiveness, technical services and research and development can help encourage recycling-dependent businesses to locate in specific areas, the group says.

“Ameripen’s study sheds light on the valuable work that has been done to grow markets for recycled materials,” says Dan Felton, executive director of Ameripen.

“We’re clearly seeing that when state centers collaborate with industry to drive resources to areas of need, everyone can collectively benefit. We hope that the study will encourage the development of even more recycling market centers across the country, as well as lead to more dialogue on recycling market development and the role of these centers within the current discussions on packaging [extended] producer responsibility [EPR] for packaging.”

John Dunham, a managing partner at JDA, says, “Additional studies could drill down even further, and it is an ideal time to encourage engagement by state and federal agencies to explore how we can better assess these programs to evaluate best practices as well as demonstrate their value.”

The full study, which includes analysis of material sectors and case studies from active development centers, can be downloaded here.