NWRA Joins United for Infrastructure 2020, A Week of Education and Advocacy

NWRA Joins United for Infrastructure 2020, A Week of Education and Advocacy

September 14-21 is a week-long series of events raising awareness for our country’s infrastructure needs.

Arlington, VA – Today, the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) announced its participation in the annual national advocacy and educational event, United for Infrastructure 2020, taking place September 14-21. Across the country, businesses, labor organizations and elected officials will come together to spread the message that we need to improve America’s infrastructure.

Apart from the waste and recycling industry and the U.S. Postal Service, no other industry travels every road in America at least once every week. This makes the waste and recycling industry one of the most significant stakeholders in the surface transportation system. Infrastructure is more than just roads and highways, though. The pandemic has illustrated the need for increased domestic recycling infrastructure in order to supply the necessary feedstock for the manufacture of essential items.

United for Infrastructure 2020 is a week-long event that advocates for better infrastructure policy and greater investment from all levels of government. Quality, affordable infrastructure—from clean water and broadband internet to safe transportation and strong supply chains—has never been more important. This year, participants are seeking to elevate the policies to ensure every American has the infrastructure they need, highlight the role of essential infrastructure workers amidst the pandemic and open a conversation about decisions of the past that perpetuated inequities in communities of color, what to do about it and how to build resilient infrastructure that helps communities thrive in a changing climate.

Investing in infrastructure is consistently an issue that has strong bipartisan support from voters, with more supporters wanting government action on infrastructure than almost any other issue. Yet national and local projects with implications for the national economy don’t receive the funding they need, and state and local projects that depend, even partly, on federal funding, loans, permitting and new regulatory action haven’t broken ground. False starts, delayed starts, deferred maintenance and inadequate levels of investment put the nation’s infrastructure and its health, safety and economy at risk. Cities, counties, states and the private sector work hard but need a strong and reliable federal partner to get the job done.

Now in its eighth year, United for Infrastructure (formerly Infrastructure Week) unites diverse stakeholders to send one message to leaders in Washington and beyond. United for Infrastructure 2020 is led by a coalition of labor, business and policy organizations and joined by hundreds of affiliates nationwide. Programming draws attention to the need to make better policy and invest in our roads, rails, pipes, ports, wires and more.

“NWRA has joined United for Infrastructure 2020 in an effort to help improve America’s infrastructure,” said NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. “Better infrastructure is needed for members of the waste and recycling industry to safely and efficiently do their jobs and increased domestic recycling infrastructure is needed to supply the necessary feedstock for the manufacture of essential items.”

“We are thrilled that NWRA has joined United for Infrastructure 2020,” said United for Infrastructure Executive Director Zach Schafer. “The state of America’s infrastructure is one of the nation’s most pressing issues … [W]e know that investing in infrastructure can play a crucial role in our recovery, creating both short-term and long-term jobs that support middle-class families and allow communities to thrive. When we invest in infrastructure, we invest in ourselves.”

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ABOUT NWRA
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) represents the private sector waste and recycling services industry. Association members conduct business in all 50 states and include companies that manage waste, recycling and medical waste, equipment manufacturers and distributors, and a variety of other service providers. For more information about NWRA, please visit www.wasterecycling.org.

Contact
Brandon Wright
National Waste and Recycling Association
bwright@wasterecycling.org
202-364-3706