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(Washington, DC) - The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) will issue the 2016 State of Recycling address today, on America Recycles Day, during a U.S. Senate Briefing and Livestream Event on Capitol Hill. Highlighting the current economic, environmental, and social impacts of recycling in the U.S., and related policy issues, the event will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET.

“ISRI is proud to join Senate Recycling Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Tom Carper and Senator John Boozman in sharing the current state of the U.S. recycling industry,” said ReMA President Robin Wiener. “Recycling remains a vibrant activity and the first link in the global manufacturing supply chain, supplying nearly 50 percent of the world’s raw materials needs while providing unmistakable economic and environmental benefits in our local communities, across the country, and throughout the globe.”

The recycling industry has long been recognized as one of the world’s first green industries, born out of the need to recover and conserve valuable resources. From the earliest of times, people recognized the intrinsic value of recycling and the benefits associated with using and re-using existing materials to create new products. Rising global demand for scrap also provides a useful outlet for our excess scrap supply, with between 30 to 40 percent of the scrap processed in the U.S. annually exported to more than 150 countries around the globe.  Since the year 2000, net exports of U.S. scrap have made a positive contribution to our balance of trade amounting to more than $210 billion.

“It is important to remember that recyclable materials are commodities, not waste,” said Wiener. “They are highly valuable and tradeable products, produced according to globally recognized specifications for purchase by industrial consumers – including steel mills, metal refiners, plastic manufacturers, foundries, and paper mills - to meet their raw material needs. Manufacturers value the use of scrap for the significant cost and energy savings provided.”

The Senate Briefing will also feature a panel focused on plastics recycling to include representatives from the plastics recycling industry and Keep America Beautiful. It will take place in the Senate Environment and Public Works Hearing Room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 406. Those interested in viewing the Briefing and Livestream Event can do so on ISRI’s Facebook page. A recording along with remarks will be made available after the event on ISRI’s Facebook page and website.

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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) is the Voice of the Recycling Industry. ReMA represents approximately 1,300 companies in 21 chapters in the U.S. and 34 countries worldwide that process, broker and consume scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, electronics, and textiles. With headquarters in Washington, DC, ReMA provides education, advocacy, safety and compliance training, and promotes public awareness of the vital role recycling plays in the U.S. economy, global trade, the environment, and sustainable development. Generating more than $105 billion annually in U.S. economic activity, the scrap recycling industry provides nearly half a million Americans with good jobs.