The Recycling Partnership and GreenBlue this week released new data highlighting recycling program acceptance rates for 50 different material types across the country – and they vowed to publish updated versions twice per year from now on.
The industry groups on Sept. 23 announced the first publication of the U.S. Community Recycling Program Acceptance Data, a large dataset showing acceptance rates for different types of recyclables. Pulling from The Recycling Partnership’s National Recycling Database, the public dataset “captures local recycling program data, representing 99% of the U.S. population, and features a set of systems, including generative AI, that tracks local changes on the acceptance of over 50 different categories of recyclables,” the organizations stated in a release.
It’s the first time the groups have released this level of material acceptance data publicly, and it comes alongside what GreenBlue Executive Director Paul Nowak described in a statement as “a growing demand for up-to-date, industry-aligned data that affords a more in-depth understanding of what materials are accepted in local recycling programs across the country.”
Previously, The Recycling Partnership has provided national snapshots every few years through its “State of Recycling” reports, including in 2023, 2020 and 2016. But now, the group says community program acceptance data will be published twice annually.
“Actionable, up-to-date data about what is and is not accepted in towns across America is critical if we are going to improve our recycling rates,” said Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership, in a statement.
Additionally, GreenBlue will use the frequently revised data as a key data point to inform its How2Recycle labeling initiative. How2Recycle applies different labels, including the “widely recyclable” or “check locally” messages, based on how many municipal programs accept a given material.
The database allows users to view national percentages for acceptance of each material type, or to filter by individual state and material category.
For example, as of Sept. 16, a user could learn that, nationally, HDPE lids have a 58% acceptance rate. Or they could drill down into state-specific information to learn that, in Montana, HDPE lids have a 17% acceptance rate, compared with 87% in Maryland. The tool also supports combining multiple states, allowing users to come up with a regional acceptance figure.
The new dataset provides a detailed breakdown of acceptance rates by product type, even within the same base material, helping to spotlight product types with the greatest recycling challenges.
For instance, it shows that while PP bottles, jugs and jars have a 76% national average acceptance rate and PP cups have a 56% rate, PP tubes have just 7% acceptance and PP pods just 3%. And it shows the disparity between materials like PET bottles, jugs and jars, accepted at an 89% rate, and PET thermoforms, which drop to 54% acceptance.
The data comes from numerous sources, including direct input from recycling program managers, automated research that scrapes text from websites, verification research and input from state recycling organizations.
Besides providing more current and frequently updated information, the groups said the collaborative project encourages industry-wide alignment, ensuring various stakeholders are on the same page. They expressed hope the project will clear up what are often murky distinctions, like the difference between recycling “access” and “acceptance” – the former being a household’s ability to recycle at home, and the latter being a program’s list of what households can recycle.
