A newly released report entitled "A Compatibility Study: Recycling and Waste-to-Energy Work in Concert, A 2009 Update" shows that waste-to-energy and recycling continue to work hand-in-hand in communities across America.  In this June 2009 report, Eileen Berenyi of Governmental Advisory Associates concludes that communities nationwide using waste-to-energy have an aggregate recycling rate at least 5 percentage points above the national average.  This refutes the unfounded claims that waste-to-energy competes with recycling. 

Berenyi's study covers 82 waste-to-energy facilities in 22 states. Recycling data was obtained from 567 local governments, including 495 cities, towns and villages and 72 counties,authorities or districts. In addition, statewide data was obtained for each of the 22 states.  Berenyi shows that communities with waste-to-energy are recycling at about 33.3%, which is higher than the national rate, no matter how the national rate is calculated.  The report also sheds light on the EPA recycling rate and how the data relied upon by EPA is different than the data collected by most municipalities.  Berenyi's 2009 update creates an "adjusted" recycling rate which creates a baseline against which all recycling rates can be compared.