[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7219-H7220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1120
                        NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Flores) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Recycling 
Week.
  Recycling and the return of recycled materials to the manufacturing 
process

[[Page H7220]]

plays an important role in the global competitiveness of U.S. 
industries. The use of recycled materials in manufacturing 
significantly reduces energy use and emissions levels, reducing the 
cost of producing goods. For example, in the glass industry, every 10 
percent of recycled glass used to make new glass containers means a 2 
to 4 percent drop in energy use and a 4 to 10 percent reduction in 
greenhouse gas emissions. Glass containers can be used multiple times 
to make new containers, but most used containers do not wind up back in 
the manufacturing process.
  Next week I plan to tour an Owens-Illinois glass plant in my 
district. Owens-Illinois has been a part of the Waco community since 
the 1940s and provides jobs to over 300 people. These are jobs we want 
to keep in America, but O-I needs more recycled glass to remain 
competitive. Unfortunately, glass and other containers have low 
recycling rates when they are collected through single-stream 
collection systems. Further, the lack of data on recovery rates is a 
barrier to finding effective ways to collect more recyclable materials 
that can be used in manufacturing.
  Congress should encourage all stakeholders to take steps to improve 
data collection related to the recovery of recycled materials, review 
ways to increase the collection of recycled materials, and increase the 
amount of recycled materials available for manufacturers. By improving 
the collection of recycled materials, we can make American 
manufacturers more competitive and protect and create highly skilled, 
high-paying jobs.
  This is another Main Street solution to grow American jobs under the 
House Republican Plan For America's Job Creators. I encourage all 
Americans to learn more about this plan at jobs.gop.gov.

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