The 2011 Pennsylvania Recycling Industries Congress was held February 15 in the East Wing Rotunda of the Capitol in Harrisburg. The first-of-its-kind event was jointly sponsored by the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association (PWIA) and the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center (RMC).

More than two dozen companies from around the Commonwealth set up exhibits and displays that showed how they’re part of a “new industry” that’s turning what was once thought of as waste into reusable materials and then manufacturing new goods and products from those materials. Participants told a success story about how recycling is stimulating economic growth and creating new jobs.

The message of the first event was so successful and so well received that a follow-up Philadelphia Recycling Industries Congress was organized and held April 14 in Conversation Hall on the second floor of Philadelphia City Hall, also sponsored by PWIA and the RMC.

This time a dozen recycling-related companies that do business in and around Philadelphia were on hand to show how they’re contributing to the city’s and the region’s economy and helping Philadelphians make recycling an integral part of their lives.

Click here to read the full story of the Pennsylvania Recycling Industries Congress.

Click here to see photos from the Pennsylvania Recycling Industries Congress.

Click here to read the full story of the Philadelphia Recycling Industries Congress.

Click here to see photos from the Philadelphia Recycling Industries Congress.