Report: Flat recycling rates point to need for investment

A new report from industry groups said the overall plastic bottle recycling rate in the United States dropped slightly to 28.4 percent in 2019, highlighting the need for additional investment in the sector.

A June 18 report from the Association of Plastic Recyclers and the American Chemistry Council said that in the aggregate the amount of plastic bottles, other rigid containers and film collected for recycling declined by 27 million pounds, or 0.5 percent, in 2019.

"Flat or declining recycling rates are a sign that the system needs support," said APR President and CEO Steve Alexander. "Declines in mature recycling streams, such as PET and HDPE bottles make brand company commitments to increased recycled content even more challenging.

"There are many opportunities to support continued growth in film and nonbottle rigid recycling as well as turn the course for bottles by focusing on what recyclers need to succeed as they are the engines of the circular economy," he said in a statement. "Our modes of commerce and consumption are changing and our system of recovering resources must change, too. Collection of quality material is essential for recyclers to produce quality feedstock at lower environmental and economic costs."

The report said about 5.09 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic was collected for recycling, with the biggest drops in collection in PET bottles, which dropped by nearly 40 million pounds, and the biggest jump in non-bottle rigid plastics, which rose nearly 46 million pounds.

The report said that 87.9 percent of the plastics recovered for recycling in the U.S. in 2019 were purchased by reclaimers in the U.S. and Canada, with 12.1 percent exported. The groups said plastics recycling has grown 8 percent since 2017.

ACC said in the statement it wanted to work to accelerate plastics recycling and circularity.

"Companies across the plastics value chain are deeply committed to transitioning to a circular economy, and we're pleased to see innovations and investments in everything from designing for recycling to modernizing our plastics recycling infrastructure," said Joshua Baca, ACC's vice president of plastics.

APR said the report's data gathering and release were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Normally the 2019 report would have come out near the end of 2020.