As states continue adopting extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, the recycling industry is facing increasing pressure to meet ambitious recycling targets. The Recycling Participation Fund, announced this week by The Recycling Partnership (TRP) and backed by Arconic, Milliken & Company Charitable Foundation, Niagara Cares, Procter & Gamble and Primo Brands, is built around a simple premise: one significant barrier to higher recycling rates is getting residents to participate correctly and consistently.
The fund comes as producers in several states prepare to use EPR laws that establish recycling and material recovery targets, increasing pressure to capture more recyclable materials from households.
The fund aims to address everyday obstacles that prevent households from recycling while rebuilding public confidence in local recycling programs. Organizers say EPR regulations are creating urgency across the recycling value chain as producers and communities work toward recovery and recycling targets that cannot be achieved through infrastructure investments alone.
According to TRP, more than 50% of recyclable material is lost in homes before it ever enters the recycling system. This suggests that a portion of potentially recyclable materials never reach sorting facilities, limiting recycling rates drastically.
“People want recycling to work, and they want to know their actions matter,” Cody Marshall, chief recycling officer at TRP, said in a statement.
“The challenge is no longer just access to recycling, but participation,” the organization states on its website.
The fund’s approach centers on four factors it says drive participation: access, ease, appeal and norm. These principles focus on providing convenient recycling opportunities, simplifying recycling instructions, creating motivating messaging and reinforcing recycling as a visible, community supported behavior.
Supporters point to Michigan as an example of how participation focused efforts can improve recycling outcomes. The state’s overall recycling rate, which includes recyclable materials such as paper, glass, metals and plastics, increased from 14% in 2019 to 25% in 2025. State officials attribute the increase to a combination of infrastructure investments and statewide public education efforts, including the “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign. According to a survey commissioned by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, three in four residents reported changing their recycling behavior since the campaign launched in 2019, while recycling access expanded through the rollout of more than 333,000 new curbside recycling carts serving more than 1.2 million residents.
Rather than focusing on expanding collection systems, the Recycling Participation Fund seeks to test and scale interventions that help more recyclable material make it from households into the recycling stream. The fund plans to test new participation strategies in California, Texas, Arkansas and other priority regions, with an initial 10 community deployments planned during its first year.
The fund will invest in research and community engagement efforts designed to understand why residents do or do not recycle and then deploy strategies to increase participation. Those efforts may include resident surveys, focus groups, education campaigns, improved recycling instructions, better bin labeling and placement, and other interventions aimed at making recycling easier, more appealing and more routine. The organization plans to measure the results and share successful approaches with communities across the country as they continue to accelerate recycling rates.
