Waste is not Waste say South Carolina Recyclers

COLUMBIA, SC – March 10, 2011 –  Amid blue bins and carts,schoolchildren with signs, economic impact posters, artwork, and aboutseventy-five attendees; political, recycling-industry and conservationleaders promoted a new ABC recycling bill and announced the economicimpact of recycling to the state earlier today in the lobby of theStatehouse.

Senator Ray Cleary (R-Georgetown) discussed his bill (S.461) which callsfor establishments that are permitted for on-site consumption ofalcohol to implement a recycling program in the next two years forplastic, corrugated cardboard, aluminum and glass.

The legislation provides establishments without access to glassrecyclers three years to implement glass recycling. The bill also callsfor these stores, bars or restaurants to develop recycling plans guidedby DHEC. Funding would come from 0.5% of the accommodations tax which isapproximately $200,000 ($42 million collected by this tax in 2009.Recently, the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee carried this bill over forfurther discussion at its next meeting.

Senator Cleary finished his remarks by holding up an empty wine bottle that he then placed in a blue recycling bin.

Representative James Smith, who represents the Midlands, then announceddata on the economic impact of the state’s recycling industry. 

According the South Carolina Department of Commerce’s 2010 CapitalInvestment Report, the recycling industry announced over $438 million incapital investment and the creation of 1,130 new jobs with 28 new orexisting companies investing in South Carolina in 2010.

(The recycling industry is comprised of haulers, collectors, processors,brokers, recycling equipment sales and manufacturers, and end-users ormanufacturers who take recycled material feedstock and make recycledcontent products from them).

Above photo: Ms. Kirkland Smith’s artwork of Marilyn Monroe made out of recyclables

“I am proud to say that I support recycling and you see around me theevidence of that,” said Smith.  “My wife, Kirkland’s, artwork usingrecycled content materials is just one example of how broad the industryis (see above photo).  From my wife who is an artist and company of onehere in the Midlands to companies like Sonoco in Hartsville who employsover 17,000 employees globally, we have a truly diverse recyclingeconomy which is growing at annual growth rate of 12%,” he said.

Gerry Fishbeck, VP of URRC, one of the world’s largest bottle-to-bottleplastics recyclers located in Spartanburg, announced a new RecyclingIndustry Group (RIG) strategic plan.

“This strategic plan will help continue to grow the industry and compete nationally and globally for recycling jobs,” he said.

For more information on the plan, please click here.

Will Sagar, president of the Carolina Recycling Association, discussed landfill issues.

“Estimates say that in SC, more than 400,000 tons of easily recyclablematerials were sent for landfill disposal in FY09, representing nearly$15 million spent to dispose of the material and a loss of roughly $52million in marketable materials,” he said.

Ronnie Grant with Sunoco — the Recycling Industry Group’s anchor company – wrapped-up the press conference.

He said, “What we need to do is move from the mindset that in today’sworld waste is not waste. It is truly a resource that needs to berecovered and conserved.”