State of Plastics Recycling

Recycling involves collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be discarded and using them to make new products. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency highlights recycling as a benefit to communities, the economy, and the environment. It recognizes that reusing and recycling materials conserves natural resources, reduces waste sent to landfills and incinerators, prevents pollution, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps create jobs and tax revenue. 

Given these benefits, the EPA set a “National Recycling Goal” to increase the national recycling rate for all materials to 50% by 2030. According to the Agency’s most recent data, in 2018 the national recycling rate was 36%. 

As a parallel effort, the EPA developed a “National Recycling Strategy” that identifies objectives and actions to create a stronger, more resilient recycling system. 

Collectively, these efforts intend to increase the amounts of materials that can be recycled, make the processing system more efficient, ensure the recycling industry can keep pace with today’s diverse and changing waste system, and strengthen the economic markets for recycled materials. 

These measures are also intended to help manufacturers make more products using recycled materials, increase competition, and encourage demand for more products made using recycled materials. 

Today, we’re seeing lots of momentum to invest, innovate, improve, and expand the existing recycling system to develop a more “circular economy,” or a system where materials are collected and reused. 

For plastics, as for most materials (e.g., paper, glass, aluminum and steel), mechanical recycling is the typical method of recycling, in which materials are cleaned, cut into smaller pieces, melted and reformed. 

However, today’s mechanical recycling isn’t well suited for all types of plastics. But a new set of technologies known collectively as “advanced recycling” is being increasingly commercialized. These new technologies breakdown and reform plastics at the molecular level and can help us process many more types of plastics than what’s been achieved to date. 

Dive deeper: Listen to the Sustainably Speaking podcast,  “Unpacking U.S. Recycling,” with The Recycling Partnership’s Keefe Harrison. 

Most plastic recycling is done mechanically. This is also referred to as “traditional recycling.” Mechanical recycling is a physical process that, for plastic, includes grinding, washing, separating, drying, regranulating, and compounding. Essentially, mechanical re-processors use heat and pressure to return used plastic to its solid form (typically small pellets). This is similar to melting ice and freezing water.  

While this is very effective for some plastic items – typically bottles and containers – mechanical recycling is limited in its ability to recycle more complex plastic items. 

The EPA says one of the top challenges associated with recycling is knowing what can be recycled. “Many people are confused about what items can be recycled, where they can be recycled and how. This often leads to recyclables going in the trash or trash going in the recycling bin.” 

Currently, there is no federal standard for determining what plastics can be recycled. Recycling tends to be locally based.  

To determine what can be recycled in your area:  

1. First, check with your local recycling agency;  

2. As a second step, you can also visit Recycle Check, which connects packaging information submitted by brands with The Recycling Partnership’s National Recycling Database, a centralized hub of local recycling information from community programs across the United States. 

Some general tips for plastics recycling: 

• Nearly every plastic bottle – meaning a container with a neck smaller than its body – can go in the recycling bin. This goes beyond just water and soda bottles and includes containers for many items throughout the house, such as milk and juice from your fridge, shampoo, body wash, and mouthwash in the bathroom, detergent and cleaning products from the laundry, and auto and gardening products in the garage. 

• Most plastic containers can be recycled. More and more communities collect plastic containers and lids for products such as yogurt, sour cream and condiments, plus “clamshell” packaging. Check with your local recycler. 

• Keep bottle caps on. Twist on the bottle caps before tossing them in the bin to make it easier for recyclers. 

• Bags and wraps should be taken to the store – NOT put in the curbside bin in most locations. Many grocery and big retail stores – including thrift stores – have film take back programs. These programs accept much more than what most people think (plastic grocery bags). They usually can take bags for dry-cleaning, bread, produce, and newspapers, “zipper” baggies, and shipping pillows and mailers. Plus, plastic wraps from around water bottle cases, diapers, napkins, toilet paper, and more. (Please snip off paper labels.) 

• Some regions have access to unique recycling partnerships that offer more options on what can be recycled. One example is the Hefty Renew program, which partners with local recyclers to accept a wider scope of plastics. As of early 2024, the program reports preventing about 5 million tons of waste from reaching landfills, which translates to displacing roughly 25 million barrels of virgin, fossil-derived materials, showcasing the tangible benefits of innovative recycling technologies. 

Plastics are a broad category of materials with differing chemical compositions and properties, all of which affect potential recyclability. That is why the recycling rates for different plastics vary significantly and why the average recycling rate for plastics is low despite some categories of plastics that have much higher recycling rates. Learn more about plastic composition and what can be recycled. 

Absolutely, we should recycle plastic – and new public-private partnerships can bring about opportunities that make it easier for people to recycle.  

• Recycling plastic can reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills, or worse, as pollution.  

• Recycling plastic can give our resources a second life, allowing them to be used to make new products.  

• Recycling plastics can reduce carbon emissions and save fossil resources. Recycling can reduce the climate impact of products compared to virgin plastics. One assessment found that mechanically recycled plastic reduced total energy consumption by 79% for PET, 88% for HDPE, and 88% for PP. For example, research found that it takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle from recycled plastic than from new plastic. 

Today, most of the plastic we use is never recovered, and that is a serious problem. In the U.S., about 90% of plastic waste ends up in a landfill or is incinerated. “Without a bold shift in approach,” says Closed Loop Partners, “plastic waste will worsen, resulting in the loss of valuable materials and missed opportunities to recover and harvest the value of these resources.”  

In traditional, mechanical recycling, some types of plastic can degrade slightly each time they are recycled. In some cases, they can’t be recycled more than once or twice. However, even in these instances, plastic may find opportunity for a new life in a different product – often a durable product that has a longer lifespan for use. Milk jugs can be turned into clothing, furniture, or even speakers, for example. While this can be referred to as “downcycling,” a more appropriate term that is used is “open-loop recycling,” which just means a product has found value as something new – while keeping it out of the landfill. 

Open-loop recycling can help keep materials in use, reduce consumption of raw materials, and avoid the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with resource extraction and production. 

Turning plastic bottles into fleece or carpet fiber and converting paper into paper towels, tissue paper, or egg cartons are examples of open-loop recycling. 

Additionally, plastic bags and wraps may go on to become durable, low maintenance lumber for your backyard deck or fence. One of the largest recyclers of plastic bags is Trex – a 500-square foot composite Trex deck contains about 140,000 recycled plastic bags!  

Recycling is a complex system. To recycle plastic, an interwoven chain of players must work in concert. The plastic recycling chain can be viewed as a virtuous circle in which each player enables another.  

As the diagram indicates: 

• Raw materials companies provide “feedstocks” to make plastic. 

• Plastic makers manufacture plastic materials. 

• Plastic converters use plastic materials to make packaging and products. 

• Product companies sell products (in packaging) to consumers. 

• Consumers deposit recyclable products and packaging in recycling bins. 

• Collectors pick up recyclables from consumers. 

• Sorters separate various plastics from each other and other materials. 

• Recyclers process various plastics into new materials that can be used by raw material companies, plastic makers and/or plastic converters. 

There is no start or finish to the plastic recycling chain. All players must play their part to successfully recycle plastic. 

For more information, visit the Global Partners for Plastics Circularity website. 

The recycling rate is the amount of post-use materials recycled as a percentage of the total post-use materials generated, generally measured by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, though other third-party organizations also gather this data for specific materials. The EPA hasn’t calculated recycling rates since 2018. This site relies on EPA’s latest (2018) data as well as the 2022 U.S. Post-consumer Plastic Recycling Study from the Association of Plastic Recyclers. 

(Source: Association of Plastic Recyclers) 

The U.S. has, for more than a decade, collected about 5 billion pounds of plastics for recycling from homes annually. We have capacity, however, to recycle much more than that. To get more recyclable material into the system, we need to improve education and encourage more people to participate. 

Since the U.S. recycling system was created in the 1960s and ‘70s, many new types of packaging have been introduced. Lightweight plastic packaging, such as wraps and resealable pouches, have helped decrease the weight and amount of packaging needed to deliver food and drink. This has resulted in important environmental benefits, such as reduced food waste, less energy use for product transport, and lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to many common alternatives. But it has complicated recycling. 

The plastic packaging recycling rates are around 13%. And a lot of plastic packaging is simply not collected for recycling because today’s system was not designed to process it. 

We’re throwing valuable material away every day. Why is this happening? 

1. Plastics aren’t captured as effectively as they could be. People are confused about how to recycle or do not have convenient recycling services at home, work, or school. These barriers translate into low capture and high contamination rates. For example, a Recycling Partnership study found only 73% of households in America have access to recycling and only 43% of households participate in recycling. 

2. The “chop-and-wash” traditional processing technologies used for the past few decades were not designed to deal with the complex and highly variable plastics in our waste streams today. Mechanical recycling works well for certain plastic packaging but is limited in its ability to sort and process films and labels, chip bags, synthetic fibers, and other “mixed plastics.” 

But there are strides being made to address these obstacles. Many companies are working to make their plastic packaging easier to recycle. Large brands are demanding more plastic containing recycled content to meet sustainability goals. So, many of today’s plastic makers are creating some of their products with recycled plastic and announcing plans for more. These trends support a self-reinforcing loop: easier-to-recycle packaging, more market demand for recycled plastic, and more recycled plastic.

Following China’s 2017 announcement that it would no longer accept our recyclables, the U.S. increased its efforts to build the infrastructure so we can process our own used goods domestically. 

• In 2013, the U.S. processed 3.5 billion pounds of used plastics domestically and exported 1.5 billion pounds of plastic scrap abroad, primarily to China. Following China’s announcement, in 2022, the U.S. has increased capacity and processed 4.7 billion pounds of used plastic domestically, dropping exports abroad to just 300 million pounds. 

• This is possible because research shows 94% of plastic recovered for recycling in 2022 was processed in North America to be remanufactured into new products. 

(Source: Association of Plastic Recyclers) 

Better infrastructure can help the United States can achieve higher recycling rates.  

A study by ICIS concluded that a combination of both advanced recycling and mechanical recycling could achieve 30% recycled content in plastic packaging by 2030 and 40% by 2040. Advanced recycling complements mechanical recycling by creating recycled feedstocks out of mixed, layered, and soiled plastic that are difficult to mechanically recycle. It also creates a recycled feedstock that can go into food- and medical-grade packaging. Together these complimentary technologies can help increase both recycling and the amount of available recycled content. 

The media often focuses the “plastic waste” conversation on single-use plastics. However, two-thirds of plastics in the U.S. come from non-packaging sources, and the current mechanical recycling system isn’t equipped to handle them effectively. Fortunately, advanced recycling technologies are emerging, enabling the recycling of many textiles, healthcare wastes, and various durable goods. This category, known as “bulky rigids,” includes items such as appliances, building materials, and automobile parts. Innovative research is underway to develop innovative solutions for separating and repurposing these mixed materials, paving the way for a more sustainable future. 

It is essential that we stop thinking of plastic as waste and start treating it as a resource.  

Many large brands are making commitments to use more recycled plastics in their products and packaging, and suppliers are scrambling to meet the increasing demand. But supplies are limited due to limitations with our current recycling infrastructure. To address these challenges, innovative technologies that help keep plastics in play are needed at scale. Public and private entities are investing billions of dollars of investments in the U.S. to help improve the collection, sortation, and recycling of plastics. 

These solutions can also help to decrease reliance on fossil fuel extraction, lower landfill disposal costs for municipalities, and reduce marine pollution. 

Many of the world’s largest consumer brands and retailers, including Coca-Cola, Danone, Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, Walmart, and others have made public commitments to use more recycled plastics in their packaging, signaling the market opportunity to invest in more circular solutions. Their actions can keep more plastics out of landfills and in use, while reducing our reliance on virgin fossil resources. 

The U.S. Plastics Pact, which includes major consumer brands, and America’s Plastic Makers are calling for a 30% recycled content requirement in U.S. plastic packaging by 2030. Continued innovations and investments in our recycling systems and infrastructure can help us meet that demand. 

In addition to market shifts, state policies are also helping to increase demand for recycled plastics. Washington State and New Jersey, for example, have enacted minimum recycled content requirements for certain non-beverage bottle plastic packaging. Additionally, states that have enacted packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) and other laws are expected to drive increased use of recycled material. For example, in Oregon, EPR fees must consider the recycled content of a covered item.   

• Demand for recycled plastic is strong and growing, but the current supply – estimated at about 6% of demand – is limited by recycling infrastructure and household collection rates. According to Closed Loop Partners, the supply of the most commonly recycled plastic, PET, represents less than 20% of total demand, as shown in the chart below. The gap between demand and recycled supply is even greater for other common plastics, such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrenes (PS/EPS), and films (LLDPE/LDPE). 

Decades of life cycle analyses (LCAs) that study the environmental impacts of consumer goods have offered important insights on how plastics compare to other materials. Many of these studies have shown that: 

• The use of plastic packaging and products can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to alternatives such as steel, paper, aluminum, and glass. 

• Replacing plastics with alternatives in many applications would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions. 

Using plastic often results in GHG benefits compared to alternatives primarily because it is strong yet lightweight, meaning plastic requires much less material to perform similar functions. (This is often called “source reduction.”) This impactful “strength-to-weight” ratio means plastic materials used in packaging and products are typically considered more efficient than alternative materials. How much more efficient? On average, more than four times more alternative material is needed (by weight) to perform the same function.  

This is why lightweight plastic packaging typically delivers more food and drink per pound and per unit than alternatives. For example, plastics are used to package more than 50% of typical consumer goods but make up only 17% of all packaging by weight.  

If other materials were substituted for plastics in packaging, it’s been estimated the life cycle global warming potential would be 2.2 times higher. 

To put these differences in GHG emissions in perspective, using only bottles as an example, the Imperial College London found: “If all plastic bottles used globally were made from glass instead, the additional carbon emissions would be equivalent to around 22 large coal-fired power plants. This is equivalent to the electricity consumed by a third of the UK.” 

An evaluation from Closed Loop Partners found gasification and pyrolysis technologies (both considered advanced recycling) could accept   

produced in the United States and Canada.

The global community relies on plastics, which offer benefits related to clean drinking water to low-carbon energy.  

Plastics contribute significantly to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:  

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger – Plastic packaging helps reduce spoilage and food waste.  

• The UN estimates a third of all food produced never reaches people. Food waste makes up 24% of landfilled material. Plastic packaging has been shown to increase the shelf life of fresh foods such as cucumbers, lettuce, meat, pasta, and cheese. 

• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – Modern, long-lasting plastic pipes can support new, durable water infrastructure, improve its resiliency and cut energy use.  

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – Plastics are efficient materials that allow us to do more with less. The “strength-to-weight” ratio is why plastic is often relied upon for green technologies such as lightweighting vehicles and wind and solar energy infrastructure. 

• SDG 13: Climate Action   

• Use of plastics in consumer products and packaging can reduce GHGs compared to many alternatives – research shows by about 2.5 times. One analysis found that in 13 of 14 cases plastics lowered greenhouse gas emissions compared to relevant alternatives. That analysis demonstrated that in terms of both product lifecycle and use impact, GHG savings range from 10% to 90%. 

• Lightweight plastics are used to decrease the weight of car parts, which reduces our fuel use and GHGs and increases the battery range of low-carbon EVs.   

• Energy-saving plastic building materials can improve insulation performance (R-value) and help seal a building’s “envelope,” which saves energy and reduces GHGs.  

  

Simply put, the global community cannot realistically meet its climate commitments without the help of plastics. However, to address plastic pollution, we need to accelerate a circular economy in which plastic products and packaging are sustainably reused or recycled instead of discarded, enabled by a global agreement that unlocks industry innovation and global investment in plastics circularity. The global plastic supply chain is taking concerted steps to move to a more circular ecosystem for plastics.  

PCR stands for “post-consumer recycled” or sometimes the product is known as “post-consumer resin” when referring to recycled plastic.  

A broader term, “post-use plastic,” is sometimes used and refers to materials entering the recycling stream from residential, municipal, industrial, community, or commercial sources. 

Post-industrial, also referred to sometimes as “pre-consumer plastic recovered material,” is material that has never reached the end user, having been diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. An example of this that is used in the advanced recycling stream is the trimming from the making of diapers.  

Post-industrial, as well as medical waste, are not calculated in EPA’s recycling rates or in the Post-Consumer Plastic Recycling Study. 

A MRF (pronounced “merf”) is a commonly used acronym for a “materials recovery facility.” A MRF is a facility that receives the mixed items people put into recycling bins and separates them into single streams of like materials to be sold to buyers. This process is referred to as sortation. And while it has traditionally been a manual job, new technologies such as robotics, optical scanners, and AI are making it much more efficient and can create higher yields. 

The materials that can’t be “baled” for sale sometimes go through a secondary sortation that pulls out items that can be sold to other industries, including advanced recycling operations. A small percentage of materials gets landfilled if there is no “end market” for them, usually the result of people “wishcycling,” meaning putting things in the recycling bin that cannot be recycled.  

Unfortunately, incorrect items can end up contaminating good recyclables and can potentially damage the equipment in recycling facilities and reduce recovery rates — and, in some cases, cause harm to employees. MRFs often cite greasy pizza boxes, baking dishes, Christmas lights, and even propane tanks and bowling balls as items that people “wishcycle.” 

The Recycling Partnership offers a map of U.S. MRFs.