The mixed picture reflects three forces moving in different directions, according to an executive from the American Forest & Paper Association. | Seeshooteatrepeat/Shutterstock
US paper recycling rates declined modestly in 2024 even as domestic mills increased their use of recovered fiber, according to the latest report from the American Forest & Paper Association.
The association said between 60% and 64% of paper available for recovery in the US was recycled in 2024, along with 69% to 74% of cardboard. Both ranges are lower than the 2023 figures, which were 65% to 69% for paper and 71% to 76% for cardboard.
Despite the decline, AF&PA said US mills consumed 32.7 million tons of recycled paper in 2024, up 1.29 million tons from the year before. Recycled fiber accounted for 44.4% of all fiber used at domestic mills, compared with 36.6% in 2005 and 37.7% in 2015. The group said the growth reflects billions of dollars invested since 2019 in new or modernized mill capacity that runs largely on recovered material.
The mixed picture reflects three forces moving in different directions, AF&PA Vice President of Industry Affairs Terry Webber told Resource Recycling. Exports of recovered paper fell as demand weakened in Asia, net imports of packaged goods rose and domestic mills consumed more recovered fiber, he said. Those shifts produced a small net decline in the overall recycling rate.
“We are showing a solid recycling rate, 60% and over, which is where it has been for paper for the past 10 or 15 years,” Webber said. “There is some adaptation going on in the global markets for recycled paper. The change we are seeing is the decrease in exports and the adaptation we are seeing is the growth in US mill consumption.”
Webber said AF&PA’s updated methodology, introduced last year, makes the rate more sensitive to trade flows by measuring recycling as a share of material available for recovery rather than simply what mills consume. The result is that exports and imports can swing the rate from year to year, even if domestic fiber use is steady or rising.
Asked whether policy changes under the current administration could shift future rates, Webber declined to speculate. He said the largest influence comes from trade volumes, mill consumption and the amount of packaging that enters the country through imports.
Webber added that the most important step to improve recovery is public participation in clean recycling. He said contamination from plastics, glass and metals in paper bales remains the industry’s biggest challenge. Technology at sorting facilities and mills continues to improve, but he said such investments are costly and are most effective when combined with proper consumer behavior.