Recycling rate of paper in the United States 1990-2020

The recycling rate of paper in the United States was 65.7 percent in 2020. This was a slight reduction from the previous year, when the recycling rate was 66.2 percent. Paper recycling in the U.S. has improved significantly over the past three decades. The paper recycling rate in 1990 was just 33.5 percent, and only surpassed 50 percent in 2003.