Central Ohio’s Recycling Industry Could Double in Size

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) estimates as of 2016, there were 372 businesses affiliated with recycling in Central Ohio, employing an estimated 5,000 workers with a payroll of $235 million and producing nearly $1.3 billion in revenues. These companies and groups help gather, process and reuse 46.5 percent of the 2.1 million tons of waste generated by homes and businesses in SWACO’s service region each year.

About 70 percent of what is still being hauled to landfills right now has the potential to recycled. That means that less than 20 percent of the waste produced in Central Ohio would go to a landfill. Recycling an additional 35 percent of Central Ohio refuse could mean 400 more jobs, an additional $19 million in payroll and $115 million in gross revenues. And SWACO estimates that the indirect recycling industry here could double in the process – growing to 10,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in revenue, based on how the business has evolved in other cities.

Those companies contribute to a “circular eccnomy” that includes businesses that generate large amounts of recyclable materials and those that benefit from them. SWACO says it is going to begin identifying the big players in this economy as well as missing links in order to make it easier to promote the reuse of materials. “Ohio has a larger recycling industry than many of its surrounding neighbors and that’s a great asset for us, so we’re going to see what we can do and find ways to use the material to create jobs locally,”  said Kyle O’Keefe, SWACO’s director of innovation and programs.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com