New data showing high value of scrap exports revealed during world trade week

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Voice of the Recycling Industry™, released new, independent data today highlighting the important role scrap commodities play in U.S. exports. According to a new study by the consulting firm John Dunham and Associates, coinciding with World Trade Week, the scrap recycling industry is responsible for creating more than 125,000 U.S. jobs through its exports, which account for more than 26 percent of the industry’s economic activity.

“Exporting to more than 160 countries, scrap recyclers play a critical role in helping the U.S. balance of trade,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “This past year brought many challenges to the industry, including falling commodity prices, and the slow down at the West Coast ports. However, the recycling industry overcame these obstacles and showed that it is a proven economic driver, creating high-paying jobs and generating billions of dollars in federal, state, and local tax revenues.”

The data shows that approximately 27.81 percent of the scrap materials processed in the United States are exported to other countries for manufacture into new products. These exports help create jobs in the United States and also reduce worldwide energy demand and the need to mine and harvest virgin materials. In 2015, 39,022 jobs are supported by the export activities associated with the processing and brokerage operations of scrap recyclers operating in the United States. These jobs pay an average wage of $78,984.

An additional 46,023 jobs are provided by supplier operations and through the indirect effects of scrap recycling exports. These jobs pay a total of $3.19 billion in wages. All of this activity generates $28.34 billion in economic benefits in the U.S. and contributes $1.31 billion in tax revenues for the federal government and $1.65 billion in state and local revenues. The data was included as part of a study conducted to determine the size and scope of the scrap industry in the U.S., and document its significant contribution to the economy in terms of employment, tax generation, and overall economic benefit. Additional data will be released later this week. “While the scrap recycling industry has shown to be a major player in the U.S. export market, it also continues to produce enough supply for domestic manufacturers now and far into the future,” concluded Wiener. “As the first link in the manufacturing supply chain, recyclers are a positive solution to strengthening all aspects of the American economy.”

World Trade Week began in 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the third week in May to be National Foreign Trade Week. It was an effort during the Great Depression to emphasize the importance of regaining foreign markets as a way to rebuild the American economy. Following World War II, it was renamed World Trade Week with importance placed on the role of foreign trade to the domestic economy.