The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was tasked with conducting a recycling economic and environmental impact assessment pursuant to Item 377 C in the Commonwealth’s 2022-2024 Biennium Budget, House Bill 30 (herein referred to as HB30). HB30 outlined that the assessment must consider the total lifecycle of human and environmental benefits and impacts of recycling pursuant to generally accepted frameworks and standards.

Solid waste planning units in Virginia are currently required to meet or exceed a mandated recycling rate of 15% for planning units with populations less than 100,000 and 25% for planning units with populations of 100,000 or greater. From 1991 to 2021, the recycling rate for Virginia has risen from 19.7% to 43.3% statewide, marking a significant increase in the recycling efficiency in the state. This is due to the efforts of locality-based recycling programs and state-funded programs that help supplement these programs.

In developing this assessment, DEQ engaged in outreach with localities, solid waste planning units, solid waste facilities, and other stakeholders, including recycling facilities in the Commonwealth. DEQ staff researched various economic and environmental impact assessment methodologies and utilized economic and environmental models using in-house and publicly available data to ascertain Virginia’s current recycling impact.

DEQ conducted a survey of recycling facilities in Virginia to gather more recent data from businesses engaged in recycling activities. According to the respondents, the average hourly wage was $23.57 with an average of 59 full-time employees for 2022. This equated to $171 million in wages paid to employees at recycling-related facilities.

Based on the analysis, the total economic impact of the recycling industry is estimated to be around $1.9 billion in revenue, with annual wages for 7,070 employees totaling $327 million. Economic data has shown a slight decrease in the total employment and number of establishments in recycling related businesses from 2012 to 2021, however, there was an increase in the total wages paid within that timeframe.

The environmental impact was based on the amount of total greenhouse emissions and energy saved. The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions saved by recycling instead of landfilling was estimated to be 6.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The total energy saved by recycling instead of landfilling was assessed as 70,000,000 MBTUs.