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  • Recycling Economic Information Project - Contract

  • Recycling Economic Information Project - Contract

    The U.S. recycling industry includes a wide range of firms offering a tremendous variety of products and services. Because of its diversity, standard information on employment, annual sales, wages, value-added, investment trends and other economic measures are generally not available. And yet, financiers, economic developers, entrepreneurs, government policy makers and recycling market development professionals need this basic information to establish priorities for investments, evaluate potential market opportunities and, generally, to intelligently allocate the resources so important to the continued growth of recycling.

    To address this information gap, NERC undertook the Recycling Economic Information Project. The project’s Final Report, published in April 1998, detailed a recommended methodology for obtaining economic information on the nation’s recycling and reuse industries. The report also provided a wealth of reference information on the economics of recycling, including SIC classifications of recycling and reuse businesses, a review of available data and descriptions of the 45 different business categories. Through a partnership with the National Recycling Coalition, NERC implemented the recommended information gathering methodology. This first-ever study of the U.S. recycling and reuse industries was implemented in two phases. Phase One targeted the ten Northeastern states and will test and refine the methodology. In Phase Two, the study was extended to cover the remainder of the nation.

    Recycling Economic Information Project: Final Report, April 1998

    All of the documents linked below (except the Executive Summary and Table of Contents) are in Adobe Acrobat format and can be viewed and printed with the free browser plugin available at this site.

    Executive Summary (HTML format)
    Table of Contents (HTML format)
    Main Body of Report
    Details a recommended methodology for obtaining economic statistics on the U.S. Recycling and Reuse Industries. Includes justifications for the types of information to be obtained, the types of recycling and reuse businesses covered and the recommended approaches to obtaining the information.
    Appendix A: Descriptions of Recycling and Reuse Business Categories
    Lists and describes 45 categories of recycling and reuse businesses, including associated Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes.
    Appendix B: A Review of Potential Sources of Recycling Economic Information
    Describes the availability of economic data on recycling and reuse businesses from federal and state agencies, recycling organizations, industry associations, periodicals, non-profits and universities and private sector financial data companies.
    Appendix C: Sources of Directories and Databases Listing Recycling and Reuse Businesses
    Lists contact information for 54 different directories, lists and databases of recycling and reuse businesses.
    Appendix D: Summary of a Survey of Potential Study Users
    Describes a survey of economic developers, private financiers and recycling professionals regarding the utility of various types of economic information.
    Appendix E: Consultant Report: Issues Associated with Determining Value Added and the Economic Impacts of Recycling Industries in the U.S.
    A report prepared by Ames Economic Research Associates regarding unique issues associated with estimated economic impacts of recycling and reuse businesses.
    Appendix F: Private Business Data Sources
    A report prepared by KirkWorks assessing the availability of economic data on recycling businesses from private business data sources such as Dunn & Bradstreet.
    Other Recycling Economic Information Resources:
  • State Review and Demonstration of a Model State Recycling Rate Measurement Methodology - Contract

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1991