As the country celebrated another America Recycles Day this past week, we looked back at some of the new reports, major announcements, and state of recycling in the U.S. today. 

America (Doesn’t Really) Recycles Day

A Greenpeace report out at the end of last month exposed some ugly truths about plastic recycling in the U.S. which offer a sharp contrast to the celebrations of the 25th annual holiday.

According to the report, despite seeming advancements in the packaging, production, and greater plastic industries, the majority of plastic waste in the U.S. is still not recyclable. Worse still, the portion of plastic that actually is recyclable is being recycled less. Specifically, the report estimates the recycling rate in the U.S. “declined to about 5–6% in 2021, down from a high of 9.5% in 2014 and 8.7% in 2018, when the U.S. exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China and counted it as recycled even though much of it was burned or dumped” (Greenpeace, 2022). 

The report went on to discuss the 5 most impactful reasons that plastic recycling is failing in the U.S.:

1. Plastic waste is too widespread to collect – poor and outdated infrastructure makes collection of plastic waste very difficult.
2. Mixed plastic waste cannot be recycled together – with hundreds of different types of plastics, mixed recycling is not only impractical, but also not logistically feasible. Other concerns include contamination, limited use, and low demand for recycled plastic end-material.
3. Plastic recycling is wasteful, polluting, and is a fire hazard – it’s estimated that as much as a third of collected plastic bottles are deemed “contaminated” and consequently landfilled. Additionally, microplastics produced in the mechanical recycling process are discharged with wastewater to pollute the environment. Lastly, highly flammable plastic creates concern for fires at production & recycling facilities and their surrounding communities. 
4. Recycled plastic has huge toxicity risks – plastic products may contain and absorb toxic chemicals (e.g., motor oil, pesticides, bleach); mixed plastics recycling risks contaminating other recyclables in the process. This reality limits the applications for recycled material to be reused in food-grade packaging or bottling.
5. Plastic recycling is not economical – compared to new plastic production, it is far too costly to collect, sort, truck, and safely reprocess plastic waste.

Ultimately, this jam-packed report reminds us that the recycling industry in the U.S. still has a long way to go. If you’d like to read the report or listen to coverage about it, here are some great additional resources to peruse:

• Greenpeace report: Circular Claims Fall Flat Again.
• NPR investigative reporter Laura Sullivan explains the plastic problem and new Greenpeace report.
• Interview with Lisa Ramsden, WBUR Here & Now from Nov. 2, 2022.

EPA Announces New Grant Funding

This week, the U.S. EPA also announced that applications are now open to access $375 million in grant funding for solid waste infrastructure for recycling projects as well as recycling education and outreach efforts. The funding is open to state, local, and tribal governments. According to the EPA’s press announcement, this fund reflects “the largest EPA investment in recycling in 30 years” (EPA, 2022).

Plastic Sustainability Targets set to be Missed

A report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and U.N. Environment Program released earlier this month revealed that a large majority of the world’s largest consumer goods (and plastics) producers are set to miss their 2025 target of using solely recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging (U.S. News, 2022). Some of the brands–which include companies like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mars, Nestle, and Unilever–have demonstrated varied progress on updating their sustainability. But according to a spokesperson from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, despite progress from some companies, the majority still need to invest more in finding new packaging methods: “Flexible packaging waste is extremely hard to deal with, not generating it in the first place will need to be an important part of the solution…We won’t just recycle our way out” (Bloomberg, 2022).