In Whittier, Talco Plastics, with 175 employees, has become one of the top 10 recyclers of post-consumer plastics in the United States. Company president John Shedd credits Talco's sharply rising profits to state laws mandating that many rigid containers and trash bags sold contain recycled material. California's experience jibes with the growing body of research linking recycling with job creation. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates that nine jobs are created for every 15,000 tons of solid waste recycled into a new product, and seven for the same amount of yard trimmings composted. By contrast, only two jobs are created for every 15,000 tons incinerated, and just one job for every 15,000 tons sent to landfills.
Recycling is by no means the only source of environmental jobs.
One measure of these technologies' potential is in the size of their worldwide market. SunLine Transit Agency, based in Thousand Palms, is the nation's first public transit system powered entirely by compressed natural gas. To service the vehicles, the company helped set up an Energy Technology Training Center, the first U.S. training facility in the maintenance of alternative fuel vehicles. Experts predict that by the year 2000, converting, fueling, and maintaining natural gas-powered vehicles will create more than 7,000 new jobs in California. Innovation Still another way that environmental initiatives create employment is by reducing or avoiding job loss through layoffs, plant closures, and business relocations.