ADS recycled plastic purchase share sinks to 3-year low

Advanced Drainage Systems, one of the biggest buyers of recycled HDPE and PP, also saw a 7.3% drop in purchases of recycled materials. | Courtesy ADS

Major buyer Advanced Drainage Systems reached its lowest level of recycled plastic purchases since its fiscal 2022 baseline, according to its annual sustainability report.

ADS, one of the biggest buyers of post-consumer and post-industrial HDPE and PP, said in the report that its recycled material purchases in fiscal 2025 were 7.3% lower than in the prior year, at 501 million pounds (227,000 metric tons). These volumes represented 46% of the company’s total material purchases, while virgin resin accounted for 49% and “other” was reported as 5%.

The materials purchased were composed of:

Virgin HDPE: 33%
Recycled HDPE: 30%
Virgin PP: 16%
Recycled PP: 13%
Other virgin plastic: 5%
Other recycled plastic: 3%

In comparison, recycled materials purchases in fiscal 2024 reached 50%, the highest level ADS had reported. The company’s fiscal year ended March 31.

In addition, the share of total revenue from remanufactured products was 49.4%, lower by 1.7 points from the previous year and by 7.8 points from fiscal 2022. The share of total pipe revenue from remanufactured products stood at 50.2%, lower by 3.5 points on the year and by 10.6 points from FY2022.

The company attributed the drop to an increase in share for sales of high-performance pipe, which in accordance with regulations can contain only virgin PP. In earnings calls this year, CEO Scott Barbour has cited large infrastructure projects such as airports for supporting revenue despite a persistently sluggish residential construction environment.

Recycled HDPE markets have struggled over the past 18 months or more, due to oversupply of virgin PE and lackluster demand, both of which have applied downward pressure on resin pricing. In August, prices for color HDPE bales reached a historic low of 2.56 cents/lb, according to data from RecyclingMarkets.Net and in September remained around that level.

ADS consumed about 30% of total recycled HDPE bottles in the US in 2025, according to the sustainability report. Sourced from more than 500 MRFs in North America, the bales contain about 20% contamination, the report said, before ADS conducts a secondary sort. The company buys mostly post-consumer and post-industrial HDPE and PP.

“We remain confident that we will reach our ambitious goal to purchase one billion pounds of recycled material per year by Fiscal 2032, as we continue researching ways to increase our use of recycled material,” the report said.