Photo: Samuel Gordon/Flickr Trash and recycling bins. A new
report released by labor unions and environmental groups argues
that doubling the nation’s recycling rate within 20 years would
create jobs and cut air pollution. The Natural Resources Defense
Council’s Adrian Martinez says that means California and other
places should find ways to divert 75 percent of waste away from
landfills. "Recycling equals jobs," Martinez said. "Reusing
materials equals jobs. And it equals a lot more jobs than if we
just send that materials to the incinerator or the landfill."
The report uses public data to predict that recycling and
reusing construction materials could create more than a million
more jobs. The report says it would also cut greenhouse gas
emissions. The NRDC’s Martinez says changing how we throw stuff
away could cut air pollution the same as taking 50 million cars
off the road.