Advocacy

For the latest news and resources on the COVID-19 pandemic and solid waste management, please visit SWANA’s Coronavairus page.

EPA recently released several public service announcements (PSAs) and a video urging Americans to recycle more often, and recycle correctly. The videos resulted from dialogue that SWANA and others had with EPA prior to Earth Day in mid-April, and EPA has asked SWANA to distribute them broadly.

Congress Urged to Address Recycling Infrastructure in COVID-19 Response

SWANA submitted a letter to Congressional leadership on April 21 urging Congress to include investment in the Nation’s recycling infrastructure in any forthcoming legislation it considers either in response to the COVID-19 pandemic or separately.

The letter brings attention to the stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has put on the U.S. recycling system, in addition to the challenges it already faced since the implementation of China’s National Sword policy. It also highlights the importance of recyclables as a critical and valuable domestic source for manufacturing feedstock and as a job creator in every part of the United States.

Several bills with bipartisan support have been introduced in Congress that include provisions to address recycling challenges. These include H.R. 5115: Realizing the Economic Opportunities and Values of Expanding Recycling (RECOVER) Act, S. 2941: Recycling Enhancements to Collection and Yield through Consumer Learning and Education (RECYCLE) Act, and S. 1982: Save Our Seas 2.0 (SOS 2.0) Act. All three are supported by SWANA and provide funding to improve American recycling that can easily be included in larger infrastructure legislation.

Another letter signed by a broad coalition of recycling stakeholders, including SWANA, was sent to Congressional leadership on April 16 requesting that the RECOVER Act is included in any infrastructure package. It also explained the challenges facing recycling both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic started. The letter requests that the funding provided in the RECOVER Act be increased from $500 million over five years, as originally proposed, to $1 billion. This increase reflects both new challenges that the system is facing, as well as more research done on the state of recycling since the bill’s introduction.

SWANA is continuing to engage with Capitol Hill and recycling stakeholders to ensure recycling infrastructure remains a federal priority.

SWANA Joins Others Calling for COVID-19 Testing for Essential Workers

SWANA joined the National Safety Council (NSC) and more than 50 other organizations on a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging the federal government to provide COVID-19 testing resources to employers with workers engaged in essential business services.

While priority for virus testing is rightly given to the healthcare sector, SWANA and others requested that COVID-19 testing resources are then directed towards U.S. employers that are engaged in essential business services, including the solid waste industry. Our industry is deemed essential in all state and territorial orders and in guidance from the Department of Homeland Security. Employees engaged in critical and essential business are required to be at a physical worksite in some proximity to other employees and/or customers.

As the group writes in its letter, “a lack of easily accessible COVID-19 testing means that some of our employees may unknowingly be coming to work and spreading the disease to their co-workers and the public.”

Warren, Khanna Call for “Essential Workers Bill of Rights”

On April 13, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) unveiled a proposal for an “Essential Workers Bill of Rights” to protect frontline workers during the Coronavirus pandemic. The lawmakers have called for the next Congressional Coronavirus relief package to include these policies. A number of actions were outlined to ensure higher wages, universal paid sick leave and job security for all employees.

The announcement cited several essential worker groups explicitly, but not solid waste management. SWANA has since confirmed with the offices of Senator Warren and Representative Khanna that our industry would be included. Additional work with those offices to identify essential solid waste workers using the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce” is continuing. SWANA’s efforts do not reflect support of the proposed Bill of Rights or any subsequent legislation at this time.