CEO Column

By: David Biderman, SWANA CEO and Executive Director

November 15, 2021 was a really terrific day.

As many of you probably know, November 15 is America Recycles Day (ARD), a day to recognize the importance of recycling. On ARD 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its National Recycling Strategy, which provides a holistic and ambitious plan for improving recycling in the United States. According to EPA, the Strategy identifies objectives and stakeholder-led actions that will create a stronger and more resilient recycling system, with a broader goal of building a circular economy for all.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Keep America Beautiful’s (KAB) ARD event in Washington, D.C. and hear Nena Shaw (Acting Director at EPA and a speaker at a virtual SWANA event earlier this year) discuss the Strategy. Before Nena spoke, KAB graciously thanked SWANA for our leadership on recycling-related issues and I had the opportunity to briefly address the audience and answer a few questions.

Nena outlined the Strategy, and although I won’t go onto the details here, SWANA will be fully engaged in helping EPA and other recycling stakeholders implement it. The Strategy and related EPA documents can be found here.

What was particularly wonderful was being in the same room as Nena, who I have only “met” previously via Zoom and Teams. And speaking – in-person – with KAB and ISRI leaders who I have only “seen” on a screen for about 20 months. I even met several SWANA members at the KAB event! Those of you who attended WASTECON last month and experienced the sheer joy of being together again with other solid waste professionals know what I’m talking about! I’m already looking forward to seeing many of you at SOAR in Kansas City on March 21-24.

But the day got even better. That afternoon, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. More commonly known as the “Infrastructure Bill,” it provides funding for a wide range of infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, and rail, expands access to clean drinking water, and provides reliable high-speed internet to all Americans. Unlike most of what happens these days on Capitol Hill (alas), it passed on a bipartisan basis and has broad support from the majority of the American people.

What makes the Infrastructure Bill particularly exciting from a SWANA perspective is that it includes more than $350 million in grant funding for local governments and others for recycling-related activities, including $75 million over 5 years for recycling education grants. Federal funding and support for recycling has been a key SWANA objective since China announced National Sword in July 2017, and we have been urging Congress to add more recycling funding in recent months. SWANA will encourage EPA to establish the grant program quickly so local governments can apply for and access these funds. I have seen suggestions in the trade press that the funds may not be available until 2023, which is concerning. Every week, I read about another community suspending or narrowing its curbside recycling program. Maybe they didn’t read SWANA’s recent report about the big recovery in the value of recycled commodities in 2021?

I came home late, and walked the dog. During our walk, as usual, I collected about a dozen pieces of litter that had been thoughtlessly discarded by people in my neighborhood. Everything from masks to candy wrappers to water bottles. It was a timely reminder that Congress can pass laws and EPA can issue strategies, but what we need is to get millions of Americans to change their behavior, if we are going to achieve our broader sustainability goals and provide a green and clean future to our children and grandchildren. It won’t be easy, but it is my fervent hope that we will be successful, and that SWANA and its members will play a central role.