New Recycling Amendment May Help Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Recycling has long been known to be beneficial but in the bill S. 2191, which is set to be introduced today in the Senate, recycling is being recognized for its role in fighting climate change according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). The act of recycling is an environmentally friendly task and ISRI is extremely please that Senator Carper, co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, values the positive effect that recycling has on the world around us, including combating global climate change. The amendment, S. 2191, will set in motion recycling methods that will help reduce as well as avoid the emission of greenhouse gases.

The amendment will provide two ways in which recycling will help the environment. The first is a lifecycle study in which the benefits of recycling will be measured against the amount of greenhouse gases emitted with the hope of using recycled materials in the manufacturing process while also establishing a method for measuring the amount of emitted greenhouse gases and designing a certification process for manufactured products. The amendment will also provided more funding to each state in order to allow recycling programs to be expanded.

ISRI states that the role that recycling plays in the reduction of greenhouse gases is a direct result of the reduction of materials, including natural resources, that would need to be removed or extracted from the earth. There is also a dramatic decrease in energy usage when a company can process recycled materials instead of materials that have never been used. According to a 2007 study, 31% of people believe that recycling is the best thing that they can do in order to fight climate change. Driving less and reducing the amount of energy used was second and third.