Recycling has $13B impact in SC

A new study shows that the recycling industry has a $13 billion impact on South Carolina’s economy. The Associated Press reports that a study by the College of Charleston showed that the impact of the recycling industry doubled from $6.5 billion in 2006 to $13 billion last year. Professor Frank Hefner says the number of companies dealing with recycling in South Carolina increased from 340 in 2006 to 524 this year. The study focused on businesses that make a profit by recycling their own materials or materials from other businesses. It did not consider residential recycling or municipal solid waste. Hefner said there were about 15,000 jobs directly related to recycling in 2005. Last year, he said there were 22,000 jobs in the industry.