The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has created a PCR Material Demand Hub to help organizations prioritize purchases of PCR content and help strengthen domestic recycling markets.
The site features resources for federal, state and local government procurement, material- and product-specific resources, and certification and standards for recycled content, including:
- Government procurement directory for recycled content and environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP)
- Downloadable guides to buying products with PCR content, identifying and buying plastic products containing PCR, environmentally preferable purchasing specifications
- “Green” product directories from the US EPA, APR, SCS Global Services, the Environmental Paper Network and Intertek
- Electronics procurement tool for devices containing PCR plastic
- User manual for the EPA Recycled Content (ReCon) Tool and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Equivalencies calculator
The Northeastern US has been hit especially hard by recent closures of PET reclaiming capacity, with fourth-quarter 2025 recycled commodity prices in the region reaching five-year lows.
Evergreen Recycling in New York and Ohio, Alpek in Pennsylvania and Phoenix Technologies in Ohio all reduced capacity, citing lackluster demand among the factors.
In line with recent short-term and long-term recommendations from industry stakeholders, the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) Demand Champions Program outlines three distinct actions to ensure the consistent demand required to scale up the recycling industry:
- commit to using PCR
- secure long-term PCR supply agreements
- expand PCR adoption into non-standard formats or specify PCR in purchased goods
APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.
