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Last updated on Thursday, December 5, 2013
(UNDATED) - Recycling companies and their supporters plan to lobby the legislature for laws that would bring them more business and, they say, create more jobs in Indiana.
The Indiana Recycling Coalition is touting a study from Ball State University's Bowen Center for Public Affairs. The study says that even a small increase in recycling could create up to ten-thousand new jobs.
"Jobs are created to collect, sort, process and transport recyclables, and Indiana becomes more friendly to businesses that want to use those recycled materials," said Carey Hamilton, the coalition's executive director at an event held for reporters at Strategic Materials, a recycling company which has a plant west of downtown Indianapolis.
The group says Indiana recycles less than most other states, claiming that two-thirds of what is thrown away could be recovered and reused.
"We have a relatively strong in-state demand from our commodity manufacturing sector," said Hamilton. This could happen, Hamilton says, if state lawmakers act to force local governments to recycle more.
"They range from landfill bans, tipping fees, increased fees, deposit laws, and other requirements for communities," said Hamilton, who adds that money would also help.
"The IRC believes Indiana must reinstate the existing state recycling grant fund," which Hamilton says brings in about $6 million per year, much of which she says isn't spent.
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