Contamination has been a major concern in the wake of China’s waste import restrictions; recycling exports have declined and SWANA recognizes the serious need for increased governmental support for North American recycling programs, an industry that provides jobs, tax revenue, and preserves landfill space for generations to come. SWANA recently sent a letter to key congressional leaders in the U.S. urging that recycling be included in any future Infrastructure bill. “Our communities need support in developing renewed and standardized messaging on recycling smarter in order to increase the quality and market opportunities for collected plastic resources,” said Jeffrey Murray, P.E., SWANA’s International President and Senior Project Manager at HDR. “Our industry needs investment in infrastructure to expand our domestic processing capabilities and to incentivize the development of new end products from recycled plastics.”
SWANA’s new Recycling Task Force is working to address how North America can successfully and sustainably process the amount of plastic that is in our waste stream by initiating public education efforts, actively calling for increased funding for recycling infrastructure, and exploring new opportunities to increase demand for recycled content. “Through the collective efforts of SWANA’s Recycling Task Force, cooperation with federal and state officials, and renewed public awareness brought on by Earth Day, I am hopeful that we can make headway in finding creative solutions to reducing and processing our plastic waste,” said David Biderman, SWANA’s Executive Director and CEO.
For more information, https://swana.org.