Breaking China’s Grip on American Manufacturing
Recycling reduces our dependence on China by strengthening domestic supply chains for critical materials.
As lawmakers consider reforms in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, strengthening domestic supply chains and reducing our dependence on China for vital materials must be a top priority. American recyclers have been at the forefront of that effort before and during this current crisis, and they’ll continue to play a central role as our economy recovers.
Much of the medical equipment, protective gear, as well as metals and plastics used to manufacture critical tools and devices has been touched in some way by the industry that transforms used materials into can’t-do-without materials.
According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, “recycled metal, paper, plastics and other commodity‐grade materials feed critical U.S. manufacturing operations that are producing the rebar, wiring, tubing, transportation, packaging and other key materials that are needed for everything from construction of new hospitals to the manufacture of new hospital beds, ventilators, toilet paper and other essential supplies.”
An undeniably “essential” industry, recycling has continued during one of the steepest and most abrupt economic declines ever, with unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression. According to the Institute for Supply Management, U.S. factory production cratered during the lockdowns to its lowest level since 1948, while the economy writ large contracted by 4.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest drop since 2008.
Beyond its role in the pandemic, the recycling industry’s contribution to our economy will be on display as Americans get back to work. Recycling will play a vital role in supporting the reemergence of the automotive industry, of machinery and appliance manufacturing or the transportation sectors, to name a few.
Here’s the bottom line: there would be no manufacturing of products containing metals in the U.S. if it were not for recycling. For example, iron and steel scrap, also known as ferrous scrap, is the most important raw material for the U.S. steel industry. Approximately 70 percent of steel and stainless steel produced in the U.S. is manufactured from materials provided by U.S. recyclers.
Bloomberg Opinion recently noted that “recycled material is integral to almost every aspect of the consumer economy. Even leaving the environmental benefits aside, companies prefer such inputs because they save money and energy.” And every ton of material reused here at home is a ton of material we don’t need to import from overseas.
Aluminum producers in the U.S. depend on recycled aluminum as their main raw input, while U.S. copper and copper alloy production is dependent on scrap as a raw input, and some three-quarters of U.S. paper mills depend on recycled materials to produce packaging for consumer products and the toilet paper and tissue in such great demand.
“About 40 percent of the world’s raw-material needs are now met via recycling,” Bloomberg said, adding that “the average aluminum beverage can contains 73 percent recycled material. Manufacturers, paper mills, even glass makers increasingly depend on such content to make cheap and reliable goods.”
It often takes a crisis to underline which industries are essential for the nation. Farming, transportation, health care, energy production, grocery providers are a few that leap to mind in the current crisis. Other industries are just as essential but are less obvious and hiding in plain sight. Recycling is at the top of that list.
Rep. Shimkus represents the 15th District of Illinois. He is the Republican Leader of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change, and co-chairs the bipartisan House Recycling Caucus.
