[OKRA] US EPA shares new recycling rate estimates

[Ellen Bussert]

[image: image.png]
This may be of interest to you if you want to see some national data on
recycling.



[image: image.png]
US EPA shares new recycling rate estimates
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2025/01/28/us-epa-shares-new-recycling-rate-estimates/>
Published: January 28, 2025
Updated: January 28, 2025
by Marissa Heffernan
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/author/marissa/>
[image: Empty PET water bottles for recycling.]

*As part of a recent report, the U.S. EPA provided new recycling rate
estimates, which hadn’t been updated since the agency released 2018 data. *
| *Billion Photos/Shutterstock*

The U.S. EPA’s recent recycling infrastructure report was largely focused
on the investments needed to improve the system but also included new
recycling rate estimates for specific materials, some of the first data
updates the agency has released since its last Facts and Figures report
several years ago.

The Assessment of the U.S. Recycling System: Financial Estimates to
Modernize Material Recovery Infrastructure
<https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-12/financial_assessment_of_us_recycling_system_infrastructure.pdf>
came
out of a 2021 directive from Congress for the EPA to collect data on
residential recycling and estimate the financial investments needed to
modernize the U.S. recycling system.

It included
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2025/01/23/epa-spotlights-gaps-in-recycling-data-spending/>
2019
generation and recycling tonnages for PET bottles, PET rigids, HDPE
bottles, aluminum, steel, cardboard, paper and glass – and the rates, in
many cases, differ sharply from other estimates.

The report estimated recycling rates of:

   - PET bottles: 23.2%.
   - PET rigids: 5.9%.
   - HDPE bottles: 22.7%.
   - Aluminum: 36.9%.
   - Steel: 31.2%.
   - Cardboard: 53.5%.
   - Paper: 29.6%.
   - Glass: 41.4%.
   - Total: 38.9%.

Those generation and recycling volumes were estimated using the 50 States
of Recycling report, prepared by Eunomia for the Ball Corporation, as well
as the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and state waste
management reports.

The report noted that the 50 States of Recycling report from 2021 was
applied to state-level population data from the 2019 American Community
Survey. However, data for paper generation and recycling were unavailable
for most states, so the EPA estimated missing values using the difference
between average per-capita generation and recycling for states that
reported data for paper recycling.

“It is important to note that the state paper generation data are
self-reported, not independently verified, collected at irregular
intervals, and contain varying levels of detail about community recycling
programs,” the report’s authors added.
Past estimates

However, looking at other reports that estimated 2019 recycling rates for
specific materials, there’s a wide spread between the numbers.

The American Forest and Paper Association estimated
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2020/08/04/what-to-expect-in-domestic-recycled-paper-markets/>
a
cardboard recycling rate of 92% and a mixed paper recycling rate of 66.2%
in 2019, while a study
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2024/11/19/revised-formula-gives-lower-occ-recycling-rate/>
from
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated a paper recycling rate
of 38%.

The EPA itself has not released an update to its Facts and Figures report
since 2020, which covered 2018 data. In that report, it estimated a 68%
paper recycling rate for 2018.

Fiber industry analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence and Circular Ventures
have also presented
<https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2022/08/29/analysts-us-occ-recycling-rate-may-be-below-70/>
different,
lower OCC and paper recycling rate estimates.

Looking at plastics, NAPCOR and the Association of Plastic Recyclers
published
<https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2021/06/23/report-estimates-drop-in-plastic-recycled-in-2019/>
a
2019 PET bottle recycling rate of 27.9% and a total HDPE bottle recycling
rate of 30.9%.

While the Glass Packaging Institute did not have numbers for 2019, it
estimated <https://www.gpi.org/facts-about-glass-recycling> a recycling
rate of 31.3% for glass food and beverage packaging containers in 2018.The
Aluminum Association published
<https://www.aluminum.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/KPI_Report_Dec2020.pdf> a
consumer recycling rate for aluminum cans of 46.1% in 2019, higher than the
EPA’s new estimate.
*More stories about data*

   - EPA spotlights gaps in recycling data, spending
   <https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2025/01/23/epa-spotlights-gaps-in-recycling-data-spending/>
   - Wisconsin recycling aid shrinks over 10-year period
   <https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2025/01/14/wisconsin-recycling-aid-shrinks-over-10-year-period/>
   - NERC reports small Q3 uptick in commodity values
   <https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2024/12/17/nerc-reports-small-q3-uptick-in-commodity-values/>
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