New study assesses state by state recycling rates

– April 2, 2021

Header image for Eunomia study: The 50 States of Recycling - A State by State Assessment of Containers and Packaging Rate Recycling. Text with an image of the continental US made up of white dots over a back background and a photo of stack of compacted recycling material.

Greetings reuse fans,

Today I will say recycling fans…

I want to draw everyone’s attention to a groundbreaking recycling study conducted by the consulting firm Eunomia, with support from the Ball Corporation. It is the first of its kind comparison of recycling rates in all 50 States. It records an overall recycling rate by aggregating rigid plastic packaging, glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, steel cans, cardboard and plastics into a single category called CCPM (Common Containers and Packing Materials). The other groundbreaking and most important aspect of the study (in my opinion) is that its metrics are not based on collection rates (the stuff in your bin), sorting rates (what gets segregated or “pulled out” at the MRF – Materials Recovery Facility), or what is received by a processors, but how much of the material that leaves a processor and is incorporated into a new product.

It isn’t recycled just because it’s collected (or what we call wish cycling); it is recycled when it is actually incorporated into a new product. There must be market for the material. Ideally it is recycled into a closed loop system meaning it can be infinitely recycled. Glass and aluminum fall into this category. Plastics don’t. Because they degrade through the recycling process, you cannot infinitely recycle a plastic bottle into a new plastics bottles. They can be incorporated into new products like fabrics or polystyrene or can be densified and used to fabricate things like picture frames.

The study is long and very comprehensive. It is absolutely worth looking through if you are passionate about recycling and a valuable deep dive if you are a policy maker. (You can download the full report from Ball’s website.) Just in case you were wondering, Pennsylvania came in 18^th with a CCPM recycling rate of 36%. Maine had the best result, with a CCPM recycling rate of 74%.

Two key takeaways from the study that drive high recycling rates: 8 of the top 10 states with the highest recycling rates have a deposit return system (known as “bottle bill”) and 7 of 10 have high disposal costs – PA’s disposal rates are relatively low and we don’t have a bottle bill.

*IMAGE: Top and bottom states on recycling rates for containers and packaging excluding cardboard. Source: Eunomia’s “The 50 States of Recycling,” March 2021*

This study gives a baseline from which to work as we explore ways to turn our waste into resources. This study did not look at construction and demolition waste. A prime subject for the next 50 state comparison!

New study assesses state by state recycling rates