Job Creation in the R3 Industry
Nancey Green Leigh, PhD, FAICP
Professor and PhD Program Director
School of City and Regional Planning
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0155
ngleigh@coa.gatech.edu 404 894-9839
Overview
• Job creation potential of waste diversion
strategies from R3 = reuse, recycling,
remanufacturing
• Supply chains and recycling choices from the firm
perspective
• Three specific sectors
• Waste-to- Profit movement
• Planning and policy to foster job creation in the
R3 industry
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R3 Industry Key job Creation Trends
• Number of jobs & labor market share increasing
• Significantly more jobs created by recycling than
landfill disposal:
– Ten times or more
– further material handling, sorting, processing,
manufacture, distribution, research and development,
marketing, sales and related administrative and
support activities
• Recycling jobs paid higher than the average of
annual wages and than waste management
industry for majority of states reporting
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Current Job Examples
•
Simply Hired website reports average salary of $40,000
(http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-recycling)
–
Director of Project Development - Organics Recycling - new Waste Management - Houston, TX
–
Director of Project Development - Organics Recycling at Waste Management in Houston, TX
–
Recycling - Representative, Sales Abitibi Recycling - Columbus, OH
–
Recycling - Representative, Sales at Abitibi Recycling in Columbus, OH
–
Recycling Sorters Labor Ready - Minneapolis, MN +2 locations
•
–
Will be sorting recyclable materials on a fast-paced conveyor belt including cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and refuse.
ASPHALT RECYCLING SALES MANAGER Dnh Search - Florida
•
ASPHALT RECYCLING SALES MANAGER $75,000 to $80,000 + Commission ($20,000 to $40,000) + Expenses + Car Allowance + Benefits including
401(k).Will be responsible for sales,...
–
Manager of Recycling - new Waste Management - Lakewood, NJ
–
Director of Emerging Technologies - Organics Recycling Waste Management - Houston, TX
•
Waste Managements Organics Recycling group is seeking a Director of Emerging Technologies ... facilities, waste-to-energy plants, recycling
plants, beneficial-use landfill gas...
–
Area Director of Recycling and Diversion - new Waste Management - Phoenix, AZ
–
Waste/Recycling Workers Labor Ready - Salt Lake City, UT
•
Labor Ready now hiring for Waste/Recycling workers ... be picking up trash, sorting materials for recycle, packaging cardboard. Operations...
–
Plant Maintenance Manager (Material Recycling Facility) - new Waste Management - Manassas, VA
–
Recycle Truck Driver Waste Connections - Tacoma, WA
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Increasing jobs &
labor market share
• South Carolina added 1,130 jobs in
2010, for a total of 37,500
• North Carolina experienced a 4.8%
increase in recycling jobs, 20082010*
• Manufacturing jobs overall
declining but recycling
manufacturing jobs growing
• Recycling manufacturing jobs pay
the highest wages
Southeastern Manufacturers Using
Recycled Content in Products, 2010
State
Manufacturers Jobs Annual Sales
Alabama
26
10,700+ $6.6 billion
Arkansas
5
1,200+ $0.4 billion
Florida
15
2,600+ $1.5 billion
Georgia
31
7,000+ $4.5 billion
Kentucky
17
4,300+ $3.8 billion
Louisiana
10
2,900+ $1.1 billion
Mississippi
3
525+ $1.3 billion
North Carolina
30
2,800+ $1.1 billion
South Carolina
24
5,300+ $5.3 billion
Tennessee
30
6,500+ $4.3 billion
Virginia
15
3,700+ $3.6 billion
Region Totals
206 + 47,525+ $29.4 billion +
*http://www.p2pays.org/ref/53/52107.pdf
Source: Adapted from “Mapping Demand for Recycled Content Material,” Southeast
Recycling Development Council, http://serdc.org/regionalresources. Accessed May 20
2011
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R3 Supply Chains
• Transition to greener economy transforms
industry supply chains
– Legislation banning certain materials from landfills
– Legislation or consumer demand for
environmentally responsible products
– Firms’ potential to gain competitive advantage
through end-of-life product management
6
R3 Supply Chains
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Firm competitive advantage
• Comes from recycling with disassembly
– five different outlets (material salvage and components in the secondary
market, raw material suppliers, component suppliers, contract
manufacturer/subassembly producers, and original equipment
manufacturers)
– If viewed as cost to be minimized → outsourcing, low cost strategy
– Redesign of products → cradle to cradle, DFE → innovation & competitive
advantage; first mover…
• Recycling without disassembly
– Can be highly automated (shredders, crushers, mechanical separators)
– Only two outlets (disposal & secondary market)
– Low risk & return, firm continues business as usual
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Three Critical Materials in Urban
Waste Stream
• Focus R3 industry growth on urban areas:
– 83% pop. & much higher incomes than rural areas
– use & disposal of goods overwhelmingly urban
• Electronics
• Carpet
• Construction & demolition
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Features
Industry Structure of OEMs
Waste Carpet Recycling
Construction & Demolition Waste:
Aggregate/Wood Recycling
Electronics Waste Recycling
Highly oligopolistic: vertically
integrated firms compete at the
regional or national market
Medium : process consists of
sorting, pelletizing, extruding,
molding, and chemical processing;
different types of techniques are
applicable.
Competitive structure: small and
medium size firms compete at the
local market
Low: relatively simple process
includes sorting, crushing,
denailing, and re-sizing
Relatively competitive: electronic
product manufacturers compete at
the national and global market
Medium to High: complexity of
processing varies across types of
products. CRTs are mechanically
dismantled and shredded. LCDs are
manually disassembled.
Institutional Approach
National-level private-public
partnership (Carpet America
Recovery Effort); local-level
economic development approach
(King County, WA, Linkup program)
Local ordinance of mandatory CDW
recycling (San Francisco Area); State
level landfill ban (Massachusetts);
local level economic development
approach (King County, WA, Linkup
program)
State-level legislation that
mandates e-waste recycling (25
states enacted mandatory e-waste
recycling laws); some OEMs have
own recycling program.
Recycling System Governance
(inter-firm connection)
Mix of two systems: 1) a closedloop system within the vertically
integrated firm; 2) Specialized
processors and local collectors
often subcontracted with vertically
integrated firms
Public transfer station and private
mixed CDW processing facility;
Private collectors and processors
which are typically registered in
state-level recycling programs
process e-waste.
Technological Complexity of
Processing
Inter-firm connection of small- and
medium-size recycling firms by
supply chain linkage
Demand Condition and
Potential Market Outlet
Reclaimed Nylon 6, carpet padding, Wood: waste-to-energy conversion, Reclaimed materials including
plastic part in auto, pallet, building reuse, engineering wood product,
plastics, glass, copper, steel,
material, and pellet
mulch
aluminum, zinc, and other precious
metals
Aggregate: sub-base in road
construction, alternative daily cover
in landfill, aggregate in concrete
Spatial Boundary
Regional or national
Local
(Inter)National, State, or Local
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Waste-to-Profit & Zero Waste
Movements
• Not focused on specific materials or industry
• Predominantly local in orientation
• W2P- waste is an economic resource, match
local generators with users as substitutes for
raw material
• Zero Waste – Environmental focus; prioritizes
closed loop production
• San Francisco – 90% “zero” waste goal for
2020; largest recycler in city has 1,000 workers
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Waste-to-profit benefits
Business
• Reduce disposal costs &
risks
• Minimize use of nonrenewable resources
• Reduce costs & risks of
using substitute materials
• Create new economic &
“greening” business
opportunities
Communities
• Reduce local costs & risks
of waste management
• Create jobs
• Enhance economic
competitiveness
• Promote equity
• Reduce impact to human
health & the environment
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Non-Profit Remanufacturing & Retail
Opportunities
• Eugene, OR, St. Vincent De Paul’s
Charity
• $18 million in gross receipts from
1983-2009
• Uses retail and remanufacturing
activities to support construction
of affordable housing
• Employs 300 local workers
• Used goods retail outlets,
mattress recycling, sells and
repairs appliances, craft glass
manufacturers, used car lot,
coffee & used book shops
http://www.svdp.us
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Ten W2P activities using range of job
skills – 60 FTEs with full benefits
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Glass recycling to create new
products (i.e., artisan crafts,
tumbling). Employs 6 FTEs at $1015/hour.
Woodshop. Employs 6 FTEs
(seasonal) at $9.5-13/hour;
Manager at $15-20/hour.
Appliance repair and resale.
Employs 2 FTEs at $60,000/year;
one tech makes an additional $3040/year for CFC recycling.
Mattress rebuilding. Employs 3 FTEs
at $9.5-13/hour and a lead
employee at $14/hour.
Eco Fire (i.e., fire-starters for
camping made from by-products of
mattress/furniture rebuilding)
Small offshoot of mattress
operations.
6.
Pet bed manufacturing (small/part
of mattress operations);
7. CFC reprocessing (see 3 above);
8. Commodity sales (e.g., Retail thrift
and coffeehouse/bookstore).
Employs 14 FTEs (retail, stock, and
sorting) at $9.5-12/hour and
supervisor at $14/hour.
9. Mattress reclaiming and recycling.
Oregon facility has 6 FTEs at $1013/hour plus bonuses (after 40
mattresses); California facility has
16 FTEs at $10.5-$14/hour plus
bonuses.
10. Used car sales. Employs 7 FTEs
(detailers/light repair, manager, and
sales) at $11-16/hour.
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Push & Pull Factors for
R3 Industry Job Growth
• Planning & policy tools to push market growth
– Legislation for state & local government waste
diversion efforts
– Material specific legislation
– Local adoption of Pay as You Throw (PAYT)
– Government commitment to recycle its own
waste
•
Potential of executive order for recycling federal
government non-working EOL electronics that bans
their export
15
Tools to pull the R3 industry
to higher levels
• Consumer and business preferences
• Commitment of large institutional buyers
(universities, hospitals, federal/state/local
government) to buy recycled content products
• Building & Construction industry: wider adoption
of LEED and municipal green building ordinances
• Reorienting traditional business incentives
• Expanding community college & voc tech training
16
Final policy issue – Urban Land
• High unemployment cities need to take
advantage of R3 industry job creation potential
• R3 industry needs sufficient industrial land and
infrastructure
• Land use tools of zoning & special district
designations needed to reserve space
• Good urban design needed to counter
community & neighborhood NIMBYism
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Final thoughts
There is significant job creation potential in every
community when waste diversion and waste-to-profit
goals are adopted and implemented.
This is a Big Idea for Job Creation that can help pull
the labor market into a real recovery as well as to
promote sustainable economic development for the longrun.
Questions/Comments?
•
•
This research is supported in part by the NSF Grant Program: CMMI – Materials Use:
Science, Engineering, and Society (MUSES) Grant #0628190. Any opinion, findings,
and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
The author gratefully acknowledges the research assistance of Georgia Tech City
and Regional Planning PhD students, Taelim Choi and Nathanael Hoelzel.
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