Sen. Carper Hosts Senate Recycling Caucus Earth Day Briefing

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, delivered opening remarks at the caucus’s Earth Day briefing. Sen. Carper and Co-Chair Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) welcomed panelists Ron Gonen, CEO of the Closed Loop Fund, and John Trujillo, director of the Public Works Department in Phoenix, Ariz., who discussed how companies and cities are working together to turn waste into economic value for state municipalities.

“In some instances, we see that our financial and natural resources have been stretched to their limits,” Sen. Carper said. “So we need solutions to manage our resources that are win-wins for our economy and our environment. Recycling is one of them and that’s what brings us all here today. The Closed Loop Fund and its investors have seen the value in using public-private partnerships to increase recycling rates in our nation’s cities. By providing zero-interest loans to cities to implement innovative recycling programs, the Closed Loop Fund will increase the recovery of materials and enable more Americans to recycle. That sounds like a win-win to me.”

The Closed Loop Fund is a public-private partnership that began in 2014 when experts found that many U.S. cities lack the capital required to invest in a recycling infrastructure and increase their recycling. Its goal is to provide a mutual benefit to companies that need recyclable materials to remain in their supply chain and to municipalities that need upfront capital for a recycling infrastructure. Over the next five years, the Fund intends to give $100 million in zero interest loans to cities nationwide and below-market interest loans to private companies to help communities save and make money on recycling.

###