The Carton Council reports that nearly 2.5 million additional US households gained access to carton recycling in 2025, bringing total household access nationwide to 63%.
The Recycling Partnership has indicated that approximately 73% of US households have access to recycling services overall. The Carton Council said its data shows cartons are accepted in 86% of those programs by household.
Carton recycling access is tracked through an independent third party that reviews municipal recycling program material lists to confirm acceptance and calculates household coverage based on those programs. The council said access has increased from 18% of US households in 2009, when the organization was founded, to 63% at the end of 2025.
“Real-world recycling begins with household access,” Jordan Fengel, executive director of the Carton Council, said in a statement. “Before a material can be sorted and recycled, residents must be able to place cartons in the recovery stream.”
Several community-level changes contributed to 2025 growth, according to the council. In Oregon, where EPR for packaging is now active, 627,000 households gained access to carton recycling, representing a 38% increase in the state. The council attributed the increase to better alignment of collection lists under the policy.
In Austin, Texas, an expanded MRF partnership added access to carton recycling for approximately 500,000 households and established a foundation for future expansion into nearby communities. Marion County, Florida implemented county-wide drop-off recycling that brought carton recycling access to about 127,000 households. Robeson County, North Carolina updated program guidance to provide county-wide drop-off recycling access for roughly 35,000 households, and Cedar Falls, Iowa coordinated with municipal staff to establish city-wide drop-off access for approximately 16,000 households. Titusville, Florida updated its curbside recycling program to add cartons to accepted materials for about 21,000 households.
“At this stage, progress happens one program at a time,” Jason Pelz, vice president of recycling for the Carton Council, said. He noted the organization is working with local governments and MRFs to update accepted material lists, optimize sortation and ensure cartons enter recycling streams.
The council said access remains the entry point that enables collection programs, sorting facilities and recycling end markets to function. The 2025 increase reflects coordinated growth across collection programs, sorting facilities and recyclers and demonstrates measurable improvement in recycling infrastructure.
The Carton Council is composed of carton manufacturers Elopak, Novolex, SIG and Tetra Pak and was formed in 2009 to advance carton recycling in the US and Canada.
