Published: Dec 05, 2011
Last modified: Dec 07, 2011
Recycling has multiple benefits for many
areas of the economy – providing raw materials,
creating jobs and encouraging business opportunities
and innovation. These economic benefits
of recycling are examined in a new report
from the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The report considers the recycling industry
in the context of building a 'green economy',
a major European policy objective.
The report, entitled
'Earnings, jobs and innovation: the role
of recycling in a green economy' shows that
recycling has numerous environmental benefits
including diverting waste away from landfill,
thereby avoiding pollutant emissions. It
also helps meet the material demands of
economic production, preventing the environmental
impacts associated with extracting and refining
virgin materials.
Revenues from recycling are substantial
and growing fast. From 2004 to 2008 the
turnover of seven main categories of recyclables
almost doubled to more than €60 billion
in the EU. Due to a reduced demand for raw
materials and a decline in commodity prices
during the economic downturn the turnover
of recycling declined sharply at the end
of 2008 and in the first half of 2009 but
seems to have recovered somewhat since then.
The growth of recycling is being driven
by increasing demand for recyclables, as
booming Asian economies help to push up
the price of materials. Another driver has
been EU waste directives, which have contributed
by creating obligations to recycle or recover
increasing percentages of waste, and discouraging
landfilling. As a consequence, the amount
of recyclables sorted and placed on the
market has increased 15 % between 2004 and
2009.
More jobs at higher income levels are created
by recycling than compared to landfilling
or incinerating waste. Overall employment
related to the recycling of materials in
European countries increased by 45 % between
2000 and 2007.
Recycling can meet a large proportion of
the economy’s resources demand, alleviating
pressure on ecosystems to provide resources
and assimilate waste. Recycling already
meets substantial proportions of demand
for some resource groups, notably paper
and cardboard, and iron and steel.
However, even maximum recycling cannot cover
all EU demand for resources. Increased recycling
can improve 'resource security', but economic
growth driven by ever increasing material
consumption cannot be sustained, as it requires
an infinite volume of resources.
Recycling is particularly valuable in securing
supplies of critical resources. Recycling
of rare metals is essential for the EU to
pioneer new technologies, particularly in
areas such as e-mobility, information and
communication technologies and renewable
energy. Imports of precious metal waste
into Europe increased 50 % between 2000
and 2009 – the only group of recyclable
materials which grew significantly during
this period.
However, rare and precious metals are characterised
by dissipative use, meaning that they are
used in small amounts in a multitude of
applications and products. The existing
recycling infrastructure has not yet focused
on this problem, meaning that many of these
metals are lost.
The economic, social and environmental benefits
of recycling highlight the need to shift
to a green economy in order to generate
prosperity while maintaining a healthy environment
and social equity for current and future
generations.
