Report Reveals that U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate Has Fallen to <6%

The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics have released a report titled “The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate” that documents a recycling rate of just 5-6% for post-consumer plastic waste in the U.S. for 2021. The groups also revealed that while plastics recycling is on the decline, the per capita generation of plastic waste has increased by 263% since 1980.

The failure of plastic recycling is in contrast to paper which is recycled at 66% (2020 figure per American Forest and Products Association). High recycling rates of post-consumer paper, cardboard, and metals proves that recycling works to reclaim valuable natural material resources. It is plastic recycling that has always failed as it has never reached 10% even when millions of tons of plastic waste per year were counted as recycled when exported to China.

The truth is that less than 6% of plastic waste is recycled and the other 94% is disposed of in landfills, burned in incinerators, or ends up polluting our ocean, waterways, and landscapes after being used just once, often for mere minutes. The plastic recycling process itself is wasteful, with 30% of collected PET bottle plastic material disposed in the recycling process.

Historically, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its updated yearly data on recycling rates on November 15th, National Recycling Day. However, the EPA has not released updated recycling rates since November of 2020 when it published the rates for 2018. 

We face an escalating set of intertwined plastic pollution and climate change crises making access to these updated recycling rates critical. To fill this gap, The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics examined data from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the latest U.S. exports, and the waste industry to document a U.S. plastics recycling rate of 5 to 6% for 2021.

The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics reject so-called “advanced recycling” or “chemical recycling” – the latest false solution being peddled by the plastics industry – because it is neither viable nor environmentally sound - please see Natural Resources Defense Council’s issue brief: Recycling Lies: “Chemical Recycling” of Plastic Is Just Greenwashing Incineration for more details.

The report shares examples of public policies that have successfully reduced plastic waste and pollution including plastic bag bans, plastic bottled water bans coupled with water filling stations, and reuse systems. Once the truth about plastics recycling is understood, these effective policies are far more likely to be widely adopted.

Plastic has infiltrated every aspect of our lives and the industry plans to expand production dramatically. All donations are fully tax-deductible and any amount you give will be helpful and greatly appreciated. Click here to donate or learn more about how you can support our work.