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Results of the National REI Study

The US Recycling Economic Information Study proves that “Recycling is Working” by measuring the size of the nation’s reuse and recycling industry. Below are a few of the key findings of this groundbreaking study.

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Key Findings

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

Data Type Recycling Collection Recycling Processing Recycling Manufacturing Reuse and Remanufacturing Industry Total
Establishments 9,247 12,051 8,047 26,716 56,061
Employment 32,010 160,865 759,746 169,183 1,121,804
Annual Payroll 956,875 3,826,360 29,181,749 2,747,498 36,712,482
Estimated Receipts 1,974,516 41,753,902 178,390,423 14,182,531 236,301,371
Estimated Throughput1 191,082 191,082 157,545 N/A N/A

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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Comparison of Industry Employment

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Comparison of Annual Wages per Job

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

Industry Sector Federal State Local Total
Recycling Collection 200 100 100 400
Recycling Processing 700 400 300 1,400
Recycling Manufacturing 5,400 2,600 2,100 10,000
Reuse/Remanufacturing 600 300 200 1,200
Total 6,900 3,400 2,600 12,900

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

Industry Sector Federal State Local Total
Recycling Collection 300 200 100 600
Recycling Processing 1,700 800 600 3,200
Recycling Manufacturing 20,500 9,900 7,800 38,200
Reuse/Remanufacturing 2,100 1,000 800 3,900
Total 24,600 11,900 9,400 45,800

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Recycling Manufacturing Industry Employment by
Major Material Group

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