Recycled Materials Association

ReMA operates a free web-based alert system seeking to connect law enforcement communities and scrap yard operators in the investigation and prevention of materials theft. This service, Scrap Theft Alert, is online at www.scraptheftalert.com. Law enforcement officials can post information about stolen materials, or materials that have been stolen by thieves that could be sold for scrap. The reports are turned into alerts that are then broadcast over the Internet to all member scrap yards within a 200-mile radius. == Electronics recycling ==

Electronics recycling is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segments of the recycling industry and generated an estimated revenue of more than $5.2 billion to the U.S. economy in 2010, employed more than 30,000 full-time employees in the private sector and when non-profit organizations are included, more than 45,000 people; and collected and processed domestically more than 3.5 million of used and end-of-life electronics. These figures are up, ReMA reports, from up from less than $1 billion in economic impact, 6,000 full-time employees and processing output in 2002. ReMA, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, industry representatives and other stakeholders, helped develop the Responsible Recycling certification standard for Electronics Recyclers, (R2), an environmental safety standard that seeks to implement environmental, health and safety regulations for electronics recyclers in the absence of regulation in the U.S. Companies certified to the standard agree to meet and maintain specific health and safety requirements in the process of dismantling and recycling electronics. ReMA also developed the RIOS standard to help improve the recycling industry overall and is available to any recycler, not just electronics recyclers. == Recycling industry jobs ==

ReMA produces periodic reports detailing information on the state of the U.S. recycling industry. Several recent studies show that the U.S. recycling industry creates and supports hundreds of thousands jobs in the United States and generates billions in revenue for federal, state and local governments across the country. Currently, the organization estimates 531,500 jobs are supported by the recycling industry in the U.S., and that the industry contributes $110 billion in annual economic benefit. The organization also tracks jobs created by export of recyclable material to overseas markets, where recyclable plastics, paper and metal are refined and processed before re-entering the manufacturing stream. According to a study conducted by John Dunham and Associates for ReMA, U.S. recyclable exports directly and indirectly support some 160,000 U.S. jobs while having generated an economic impact of $33.11 billion in 2019, helping the U.S. balance of trade. ==References==