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Watch NowIndustrial recycling: biggest step toward a circular economy.
Waste from manufacturing, construction, restaurants, office buildings, schools and mines accounts for about half of all waste. All of that is what is called industrial and commercial waste, in contrast to household waste. Industrial waste contributes to climate change because manufacturing new products from virgin materials is much more resource and energy intensive than using recycled materials.
Keeping inside temperatures in and outside temperatures out.
Much of the industrial waste that's produced today can be recycled, and a range of strategies can enhance recycling rates. Some of these strategies include creating marketplaces for secondary materials to facilitate the exchange of recyclable and reusable goods, innovating conversion technologies to make more materials recyclable, and adopting circular business models to recapture "waste" as a valuable resource.
Recycling industrial and commercial material can reduce emissions because producing new products from recovered materials often saves energy. For example, forging recycled aluminum products uses 95% less energy than creating them from virgin materials.
According to Project Drawdown, a serious worldwide commitment to industrial recycling can help avoid 6.02 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
These companies are making it happen.
In the Climate Index, we find all the industrial recycling companies whose stocks are traded on US stock markets, take out penny stocks (those that were traded at less than $0.50 in our last update), and weed out the ones that make more revenue from fossil fuel-dependent business than from industrial recycling. The result is a list of companies that are leading the push to expand industrial and commercial recycling.
If you are a Carbon Collective member, you own all of these companies through the Climate Index.
View All Climate Index Stocks →
Allocated | Company | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
1.02% |
LKQ Corp (LKQ) | LKQ recycles thousands of used vehicles into salable parts, tires, fluids and oil - a circular economy model that reduces virgin material use and emissions |
|
0.52% |
IAA, Inc. (IAA) | IAA provides a digital marketplace where total-loss, damaged and low-value cars are bought and sold. It’s a valuable industrial recycling service |
|
0.24% |
Commercial Metals (CMC) | CMC buys scrap steel and other metals and recycles them into metal products for construction. This reduces virgin material use, energy use and emissions |
|
0.10% |
PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (PCT) | PureCycle sells technology that turns polypropylene into virgin-like plastic material. Industrial recycling conserves resources and cuts emissions |
|
0.09% |
Harsco Corporation (HSC) | Harsco recycles industrial materials from the metal, railways and energy sectors, which expands the circular economy and reduces virgin materials use |
|
0.05% |
Loop Industries (LOOP) | Loop recycles low-value plastics to create high-quality plastics - a circular economy business that reduces virgin material use and emissions |
|
0.02% |
Aqua Metals (AQMS) | Aqua Metals turns used lead acid batteries into pure lead and plastic chips. Now that’s a circular economy model |
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