More than two dozen Pennsylvania companies that contribute to the state’s growing recycling economy will set up exhibits and displays in the East Wing Rotunda of the Capitol on January 22 for the 2013 Pennsylvania Recycling Industries Congress.

The theme of the event is “Serving the Recycling Spectrum – Processing to Products.”

The displays will illustrate the broad spectrum of business activity involved in recycling, from the collection and processing of recyclables, such as plastic, aluminum and paper, to the use of recycled materials to make new products.

The event is being jointly sponsored by the PA Waste Industries Association and the PA Recycling Markets Center.

PWIA represents private-sector recyclers, waste haulers and landfill operators and serves as the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Solid Wastes Management Association.

Through a unique demand-side approach, the non-profit RMC supports the research and development of new and innovative technologies to eliminate market barriers for recycled material. RMC works with manufacturers to incorporate new types of recycled- material feedstock into their operations to reduce costs and to increase revenues by designing new recycled-content product lines.

Most importantly, by connecting the supply and demand sides, RMC and PWIA stimulate growth in the recycling industries. By collecting, processing and delivering market waste material, once thought to have no value, jobs are created.

This year’s Recycling Industries Congress coincides with the implementation of a new state law that bans the disposal of electronic devices such as computers, computer peripherals and TVs in landfills and incinerators and requires manufacturers that sell electronics in Pennsylvania to offer e-waste recycling programs at no cost to consumers.

Electronics scrap recyclers will be among the exhibitors, and there will be a special seminar on the business of electronics recycling.

According to Robert Bylone, RMC president and executive director, the most recent available study says that more than 3,800 Pennsylvania businesses are involved in or benefit from recycling and that these businesses account for 52,316 employees, payrolls of $2.2 billion, and annual gross sales totaling $20.6 billion.

Michele Nestor, chair of the RMC board, pointed out that Pennsylvania is the leader among Northeastern states in terms of the contribution of recycling to its economy. “Recycling has become an important and broad-based business sector,” she said. “We are no longer an ancillary activity.”

PWIA President Mark Pedersen said PWIA members have been leading the way in investing in large-scale, single-stream processing technology in Pennsylvania. “Single-stream processing means consumers don’t have to have separate recyclables,” he explained. “This has dramatically improved the public’s participation in recycling and in turn has helped greatly improve the economics of recycling.”

1/14/2013