The Community Benefits of Recycling

Simply put, recycling means the process of converting waste into useful material. The benefit that recycling provides to the environment is common knowledge; but unknown to most, there are other less tangible but long-term gains that recycling offers to communities.

The recycling industry positively affects economic development. According to statistics, the worldwide waste and recycling market is worth a staggering 410 billion US dollars. This estimate comes from businesses that are involved in collecting and processing recyclable materials, as well as distributing recycled ones. In the United States, the industry has created more than 3 million jobs, employing truck drivers, sorters, sales representative, brokers, engineers and chemists. Reports indicate that annual gross revenues have reached more than 200 million dollars. Because these recycling businesses and their employees pay taxes to the government, more funds are added to the public coffers as well.

The demand for jobs related to the environment arises whenever green initiatives are implemented. An example is the need for an environmental officer aboard cruise ships. Such a position was unheard of before. However, because some cruise lines are serious about adhering to high environmental standards, they assign an officer to join in every cruise, to ensure that established standards are complied with. Strict compliance is even more applicable for the European river cruises, which are mandated by governments to keep the rivers free from pollution. To know more about these cruises in Europe, click here.

Recycling provides energy security. It takes significantly less energy to manufacture an item from recyclable materials than to make the same item from raw materials. This gives manufacturing companies savings in terms of energy consumption and costs. It also conserves other resources used in the production process. As a case in point, the recycling of aluminum cans to produce aluminum saves ninety-five percent of the energy expended in manufacturing aluminum from raw sources. Saving on energy now will ensure that future generations will still have sufficient energy resources.

Recycling fosters partnerships between communities, organizations and the government. No recycling initiative will ever succeed without the cooperation of the members of a community. Community involvement increases awareness and knowledge not only on recycling but about the environment as well. This will create a more environmentally-conscious citizenry.

Recycling is but one aspect on caring for the environment. If it is done right, it will do a lot of good for a community and the nation as a whole.