Bruna Alves
Research lead covering environment and sustainability
Recycling in the United States - Statistics & Facts
The U.S. recycling system faces many challenges. There is no federal law that mandates recycling in the country. Therefore, recycling legislation is localized through city or state governments, which are responsible for the management of waste and can create recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials. With almost 10 percent of the population lacking access to recycling services, the U.S. has some of the lowest municipal waste recycling rates worldwide.
While the overall recycling rate is relatively low in the U.S., it varies greatly by material. Paper and paperboard have consistently been the most recycled waste material in the U.S. and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the 69 million metric tons of recycled MSW in 2018. Meanwhile, plastics accounted for less than five percent, with a recycling rate of just 8.7 percent. This means that some 90 percent of U.S. plastic waste is never recycled and ends up either landfilled, incinerated, or leaking into environments. The impact of plastic waste pollution has been brought to global attention in recent years, garnering increased support for improvements to the recycling system.
Recycling rates in the U.S.
The U.S. is one of the largest producers of municipal solid waste worldwide, and although the country’s recycling rate has increased massively since the 1960s, progress has stalled over the past decade. In fact, the recycling rate dropped to just 32.1 percent in 2018, with the average American recycling 1.16 pounds of MSW that year. The low recycling rates in the U.S. are especially noticeable when compared to the recycling rates in European countries such as Germany, where it was higher than 70 percent.While the overall recycling rate is relatively low in the U.S., it varies greatly by material. Paper and paperboard have consistently been the most recycled waste material in the U.S. and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the 69 million metric tons of recycled MSW in 2018. Meanwhile, plastics accounted for less than five percent, with a recycling rate of just 8.7 percent. This means that some 90 percent of U.S. plastic waste is never recycled and ends up either landfilled, incinerated, or leaking into environments. The impact of plastic waste pollution has been brought to global attention in recent years, garnering increased support for improvements to the recycling system.
U.S. waste exports
U.S. waste management services were put under immense pressure in recent years when China imposed a ban on foreign waste imports, forcing countries across the globe to face the shortcomings of their domestic recycling infrastructure. In 2018, around 4.5 percent of U.S. plastic waste was exported, with this figure forecast to drop to 1.5 percent by 2021. Waste exports are counted as recycled by official figures.
