Recycling facilities in 21 states and Mexico hosted more than 2,500 visitors in May for the Association of Plastic Recyclers’ (APR) second annual Recycling in Action month. The industry group says the tours left most attendees more confident that what they put in the bin gets recycled.
APR said in a press release that 41 facilities hosted more than 135 public tours during the month. Hosts included MRFs run by haulers and municipalities, plastic reclaimers and PP recycler PureCycle.
APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.
According to post-tour surveys, 78% of attendees said they believe recycling works better than they previously thought, and 78% expressed strong confidence that their recyclables get recycled. In addition, 89% said they were very likely to share what they learned with others. APR did not say how many attendees completed the survey.
“Facility tours are an effective way to build trust in the recycling process, giving community members the opportunity to see how recycling works firsthand,” said Steve Alexander, APR president and CEO. “This is especially important at a time when public trust is challenged and can leave people uncertain about what happens to their recyclables after they are placed in the bin.”
From haulers to reclaimers
Haulers led the count of facilities opened for the event:
- Republic Services: 6
- WM: 4
- Circular Services: 3
- Casella: 2
Other hosts included Rumpke, Recology, Ecomaine, KW Plastics in Troy, Alabama, and PetStar in Toluca, Mexico. Municipal hosts ranged from the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County in Florida to the Westchester County MRF in Yonkers, New York.
Kara Napolitano, education director at Circular Services, said the key moment for visitors comes when “they see recyclables transformed from a pile of mixed materials into market-ready commodities.”
“That firsthand experience demonstrates that recyclable materials are valuable resources that can be returned to manufacturing and used again,” she said.
Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), which opened its Shippenville, Pennsylvania facility, said the tours reached a wide mix of people. “The variety of perspectives represented by tour participants generated meaningful conversations and reinforced the importance of continued education, engagement and industry collaboration to advance a more circular economy,” said Kristen Rinehart, vice president of recycling at ADS.
APR is now recruiting more MRFs and plastic reclaimers in the US, Canada and Mexico to host tours in 2027.
