PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania was once a leader in recycling. The state passed the groundbreaking Act 101 in 1988, back when recycling consisted mainly of newspapers and glass bottles. Now, those materials are only a small fraction of the waste stream.
The fastest-growing waste products were unknown 34 years ago — flat-screen TVs, iPads and cellphones didn’t exist.
Environmental groups want to renew Pennsylvania’s recycling effort, which has been suffering since before the pandemic. A new report by the Pennsylvania Resources Council and PennEnvironment, among other partners, calls on lawmakers to update Act 101.
“Waste generation has grown by 45% per capita. The goal was to reduce it,” said Darren Spielman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council. “The commonwealth itself is not using recyclable materials to the extent that it should, and the overall recycling rate is unknowable because we don’t have accurate data collection.”
Spielman joined other environmental leaders to announce the report at a news conference outside City Hall last week.
The report says the state can help the effort by funding consumer education about recycling, banning certain materials from landfills, establishing a deposit return system for beverage containers, using more recycled materials, and increasing producer responsibility for disposable packing materials.
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PennEnvironment zero-waste advocate Faran Savitz said e-waste recycling is among the 15 recommendations, which would also expand responsibility for recycling beyond consumers.
“We need producers to pay for the waste that they create so that everyone, including our corporations, does their part,” he said.
Savitz praised Philadelphia’s single-use plastic bag ban. Scott McGrath, environmental services director of the Philadelphia Streets Department, said the city’s recycling rate is a modest 9%, but that’s better than during the height of the pandemic, when simply collecting waste became a challenge.
McGrath said Philadelphia is committed to improving curbside recycling.
“We’re also working hard developing innovative solutions to meet our zero-waste goals by 2035,” he added.