Resources

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

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Puzzled about Recycling’s Value? Look Beyond the Bin (PDF) (16 pp, 318K)
A booklet documenting the benefits of recycling including economic development and sustainable resource use.
Recycling Economic Information Study (REI)
The REI study is an unprecedented national study that demonstrates the importance of recycling and reuse to the US economy.

The Economic Impact of Waste Disposal and Diversion in California (PDF) (105 pp, 1.4MB)
For this report, the California Integrated Waste Management Board [now the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery] funded the University of California-Berkeley to quantify and compare the economic benefits of waste disposal and diversion.
Michigan Recycling Coalition: Measuring Recycling
Massachusetts Recycling Economy Study (PDF) (2 pp, 123K)
This fact sheet by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is partly based on data from the NERC/US EPA’s Recycling Economic Information report and highlights some of the economic benefits of recycling and its contribution to the Massachusetts economy.
Minnesota’s Value-Added Recycling Manufacturing Industries: An Economic and Environmental Profile
This 1997 study describes the economic contributions and environmental benefits of Minnesota businesses that use recyclable materials to manufacture finished products.

Recycling Economic Development Through Scrap-Based Manufacturing
This report describes the environmental and economic benefits of starting a scrap-based industry, including lowered disposal costs and reductions in incineration and landfilling.

Creating Wealth From Everyday Items
This report profiles seven household collection programs and six reuse operations and includes sections on materials handled, collection, employment figures, owner and operator (i.e., municipal, nonprofit, or private), economic viability, and replicability.

Institute for Local Self-Reliance
2425 18th Street, NW.
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202 232-4108
Fax: 202 332-0463
E-mail: ilsr@igc.apc.org
Web: www.ilsr.org/initiatives/waste-to-wealth/