waste – recycling based economic development

ILSR long term working partner Saint Vincent De Paul of Lane County, OR, has added another program to expand its role as refurbisher and recycler of old mattresses through a unique arrangement to distribute mattresses manufactured by Boston based Tempur-Pedic Company to needy families. From 2015 Annual Report of Saint Vincent De Paul, Lane County, OR … Read More

Saint Vincent De Paul of Lane County, OR, continues to increase the number of partnerships with social service organizations across the US, adding 68 new jobs to the Cascade Alliance network of enterprises. Thanks to generous funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul is helping other nonprofits develop retail thrift stores, mattress … Read More

Introduction In the past several months, journalists in major publications such as Forbes, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, the New York Times and Mother Jones have concluded that recycling rates have stagnated. They tend to blame the recent downturn in materials prices. They’re half right. Recycling levels have stagnated in many cities and towns, largely … Read More

The national average recycling rate has been holding at just under 35 percent for the past five years, after rapid growth in the 1990s and 2000s, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That state of stagnation might suggest that there are no tools left to help municipalities boost recycling, but that is far from the case. … Read More

The decline in oil prices and its consequences for recycling as reported recently by The New York Times is not being seen everywhere.  Programs and enterprises in many towns and cities are maintaining and even increasing recycling and diversion rates. It’s important to remember that while recycling markets fluctuate the costs of replacement landfill and incinerator … Read More

Amidst all the media talk about the failure of recycling, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency just released a report that underscores the viability and potency of recycling as an economic growth engine. As of the end of 2015, the state has created 60,000 jobs in traditional recycling and another 78,000 jobs in repair/reuse and fix it … Read More