Local Commentary

Commentary

August 22

Plan to certify recycled products in Pa. gets green light Commentary Bob Bylone

“TRUST BUT verify.” Those were words President Ronald Reagan once used. Of course, he was talking about compliance with a weapons treaty. But the sentiment is just as valid with reference to vetting products in today’s marketplace.

As more and more recycled material is incorporated into newly made products – a welcome trend, from my perspective – verification takes on an important role.

Unfortunately, some companies commit “greenwashing” by overstating or misrepresenting the recycled content in their products.

It’s not nice to fool consumers who are trying to make environmentally responsible choices. And now there’s a way to make sure that doesn’t happen.

The Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center is partnering with a Schwenksville company called GreenCircle Certified to promote voluntary certification of recycled content in Pennsylvania-made products.

Pennsylvanians soon will begin seeing the GreenCircle Certified mark on products. This mark signifies that claims of recycled content in a wide variety of goods – from building materials to furnishings to general consumer goods — have been checked and verified.

GreenCircle has established an independent, objective procedure to determine whether a company can consistently manufacture a product that matches its claim about recycled content. It reviews and checks the company’s documentation and conducts a detailed evaluation of the product and the manufacturing operation, including audits in the manufacturing plant.

Rather than being a burden, this is something that companies in the recycling community are eager to embrace and participate in. Recycled content has become an added value for which many consumers look. Voluntary certification will help the Pennsylvania companies that use recycled materials stand out and become more attractive in the marketplace.

We at the Recycling Markets Center are getting behind this because it contributes to the center’s mission of building recycling markets in the commonwealth. Ultimately, it will help increase the use of recycled raw materials and encourage the manufacture and sale of more products with recycled content.

In case you didn’t realize it, recycling is an important and growing contributor to this state’s economy. Pennsylvania has 2,265 operations involved in the collection and processing of recyclables, 484 manufacturers and demand-side users of recycled materials and 1,054 operations involved in reuse and remanufacturing.

A 2009 study by the Northeast Recycling Council said establishments involved in or reliant on recycling or involved in reuse and remanufacturing generated 52,316 jobs with an annual payroll totaling $2.2 billion in Pennsylvania – while also bringing in gross receipts of $20.6 billion. That’s pretty significant.

Look for the new GreenCircle Certified mark. When you see it, you can be confident that a product claiming to contain a certain amount or percentage of recycled content actually does. Then you can do your part as a responsible consumer.

Bob Bylone is president and executive director of the Middletown-based Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center. For more information, visit www.parmc.org.

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