Around $6.5 billion worth of material that could be recycled and re-used is lost to landfill every year in the United States, a new report by Eunomia Research & Consulting and Ball Corporation has found.
The 50 States of Recycling report is a state-by-state assessment of packaging generation, recycling and disposal rates across the US, and found that since the last iteration of the report, recycling rates have either ‘stagnated or declined’.
Pandemic-related shutdowns at many recycling centres (the study uses 2021 data) is one factor that has led to this stagnation, along with slow adoption of aluminium can recycling, with the US currently recycling just 45.2% of aluminium cans.
Getting that recycling rate closer to 90% by 2030 would create opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), the report found.
In 2021, 79 million MTCO2e of GHG emissions were avoided through recycling – comparable to removing more than 17 million vehicles from the roads.
Recycling rates
The states with the highest recycling rates, as of 2021, excluding fibres and flexible plastics (FFP), are Maine (65%); Vermont (51%); Massachusetts (48%); Iowa (45%); Oregon (45%); New York (44%); California (41%); Michigan (40%); New Jersey (39%); and Connecticut (39%).
At the other end of the scale, the states with the lowest level of recycling rates are West Virginia (2%); Louisiana (4%); Tennessee (5%); Alaska (6%); South Carolina (6%); Mississippi (6%); Oklahoma (8%); Alabama (8%); Texas (8%); and Colorado (11%).
A true assessment
“The recycling rates in our report represent the real recycling—versus collection—rate, meaning this rate is not what is collected for recycling, but rather what is available to be made into new products,” commented Sarah Edwards, director, Eunomia North America.
“Recycling rates in many states are still measured in terms of what is collected for recycling, so to enable a ‘like for like’ comparison between states, the collection rates have been adjusted to show the real recycling rate. Having a true assessment of recycling rates will better enable us to understand what policy and program measures are needed to capture more quality material, increasing circularity, reducing our need for virgin materials and thus helping protect the planet.”
The monetary benefit of recycling in the U.S. is around $35 billion, considering gross value, employment income from recycling-related jobs, and reduction in greenhouse gas impact, the report found.
‘If effective recycling policies were enacted nationwide, such as pairing Extended Producer Policy alongside Recycling Refunds, the benefit of recycling would double to $70 billion annually,’ it said. Read more here.
Top 10 US states by recycling rate (excluding FFP, 2021)
| State | Recycling Rate |
|---|---|
| Maine | 65% |
| Vermont | 51% |
| Massachusetts | 48% |
| Iowa | 45% |
| Oregon | 45% |
| New York | 44% |
| California | 41% |
| Michigan | 40% |
| New Jersey | 39% |
| Connecticut | 39% |
