Recycling is essential to a healthy trade balance. The role of the recycling industry as it relates to trade is vital to the economy, supply chains, the environment, and beyond.
The significance of the export of valuable recycled content to other countries has perhaps never been greater. Employing readily available recycled commodities into the supply chain provides necessary relief for manufacturers experiencing delays while awaiting virgin materials.
Recycled materials are a key manufacturing feedstock that meets about 40 percent of the world’s industrial raw material needs. The more we recycle globally, the more we work to head off the future shortage of goods.
By exporting excess valuable recycled commodities to other countries, the recycling industry helps prevent the need to extract more of the earth’s finite natural resources.
Annually the recycling industry’s export related economic impact in the United States is $35.70 billion. This includes more than $11 billion in wages, and $3.8 billion in taxes generated. These are significant contributions to the overall U.S. trade balance.