Many facilities are expanding their waste management to include in-depth recycling and composting as a way to promote green initiatives, sustainability and minimize their impact on the environment. But, according to new reports, the effort has also increased jobs in the tough economy.

USA Today outlined a new report, which revealed that increasing the nation's recycling rate from 33 percent to 75 percent by 2030 would not only reduce pollution, but it would create an extra 1.5 million jobs.

With the U.S. unemployment rate remaining stubbornly high at 9 percent, more special interest groups are promoting their causes by trying to quantify their likely job creation. Recycling proponents have joined this fray by sponsoring the "Less Pollution, More Jobs" report, prepared by the nonprofit research group Tellus Institute.

The report finds that waste diversion, unlike disposal, is more labor intensive and thus 85 percent of the new jobs result from collecting, processing and composting trash, as well as making new products with recycled materials. It says a 75 percent recycling or diversion rate would generate 2.3 million jobs by 2030 — 1.1 million more jobs than would occur if recycling efforts stayed stagnent and nearly 1.5 million more jobs than existed in 2008.

In addition, it says carbon dioxide emissions would fall 276 million metric tons by 2030 — equivalent to taking 50 million cars off the road.

Click here to read this full report.