Sustainability Tip: Thumbs Up or Down for Recycling? Answers to Five of Your Biggest Challenges

By Alliance Communications Coordinator Amy Durr

If I told you that for many years I kept every scrap of paper (including toilet rolls) on my vacations and lugged them home to recycle you might call me overly zealous (if you were feeling kind).

Perhaps I am. But paper is one of the most recycled and recyclable substances we have. Plus I adore trees. A lot. It hurts me that 4 billion trees are cut down each year to make paper, accounting for roughly 35% of global deforestation.

I now know that some types of paper should not go into my recycling, such as the very thin bags you get at the pharmacy. Some paper products are too degraded for recycling because their cellulose fibers have become so short from multiple reuse cycles.

Some of those things I dragged home should have been composted (if I had organics waste collection) or thrown away still with some guilt. There’s a lot I didn’t know then, and there still is. To be honest, what’s recyclable and how best to recycle still feels like a moving target most days.

Recycling Should Be Easy, Right? It’s Not

Recycling should be one of the easiest things we do daily, but it remains confounding for most of us. Approximately 75% of US residents have curbside recycling collection, and 94% of the population has access to a recycling program. Yet, only 43% of US households actively participate in recycling programs. What’s that about America?

Recycling is one of the few things most Americans can agree upon – 95% are supportive. The recycling rate has increased from less than 7% in 1960 to the current rate of 32%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA’s National Recycling Goal is to increase the recycling rate to 50% by 2030.

I find that goal grim. Fifty percent? In 2026?

Other Countries Have Recycling Rates Nearly Double Ours, But Is That Enough?

Color me surprised to learn that the top countries in the world are only hitting 60%+:

• Germany is often ranked first in Europe and globally for municipal waste recycling, yet its rates are still only 52% – 66%
• Austria is frequently ranked near the top with high material recovery and composting rates yet they’re at 59% – 63%
• South Korea is a global and Asian leader in municipal solid waste recycling, but its recovery and recycling rates are just 50% – 56%

It’s clear we all have work to do. In celebration of America Recycles Day we’re here not to wag our finger but to answer the questions we get most often about recycling in the US. I’ll share some things that may surprise you and hopefully make recycling easier. At the end, you’ll see why recycling makes sense despite all of the critiques and challenges.

Recycling is GOOD

We’re here to assure you that yes, recycling is still worth it. We should continue to spend time, resources and tax dollars increasing access to recycling, improving techniques and finding ways to recycle more items. As Change Is Simple reminds us:

It Benefits the Economy – Recycling and reuse activities in the US supported about 757,000 jobs, $36.6 billion in wages and $6.7 billion in tax revenue in a single year (2012), according to the EPA. That works out to about 1.57 jobs, $76,000 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenue for every 1,000 tons of recycled material.

It Benefits the Environment – Recycling helps conserve natural resources, such as timber, water and minerals, while reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. For example, in 2018 nationwide recycling of municipal waste helped save more than 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of removing 42 million gas-powered cars for a year. Recycling also diverts trash from landfills and incinerators, protecting ecosystems and cutting down on pollution.

It Benefits Future Generations – Recycling helps preserve the planet’s resources and natural habitats so that future generations can enjoy clean air, water and healthy ecosystems. By reducing waste, conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions today, we leave a healthier, more sustainable world for our children and grandchildren.

But Recycling is Challenging

While recycling may seem to be straightforward (melt down the metal, glass or plastic and form it into something new), it’s a complex, nuanced and downstream solution which needs to be incorporated into the planning of every manufactured item. The main challenges from a systems perspective in 2026 are:

1. Most plastic isn’t actually recyclable in practice – Only bottles and jugs (#1 and #2) have reliable markets, though #5 are recyclable in many locations. Films, pouches, clamshells and mixed materials too often end up having to be landfilled or burned.
2. Contamination and “wishcycling” – Hopeful tossing of greasy containers, bags, hoses and batteries jams sorting equipment, lowers bale quality and can cause fires. It’s made it worse by confusing labels, including the chasing-arrows symbol on things that can’t be recycled.
3. Weak, volatile markets – Recycling only works if someone buys the material. Virgin plastic made from cheap oil and gas often undercuts recycled plastic. China’s 2018 import ban also removed the main outlet the US had relied on.
4. Taxpayers foot the bill, not producers – Municipalities (i.e., taxpayers) have to pay millions of dollars to manage packaging they didn’t design, when instead the manufacturers should have to foot the bill, as in extended producer responsibility legislation. Until that happens, companies have little incentive to make packaging recyclable or use less of it.
5. Uneven access and poor data – Rural areas and apartment dwellers often have no convenient recycling. There’s also no consistent national data on what’s collected or where it goes, so it’s hard to know what’s working.
6. Recycling should be a last resort – Recycling is listed last in “reduce, reuse, repurpose, compost, recycle” hierarchy for a reason. Focusing on recycling can distract from making less waste in the first place. Too often, people think they’re virtuous because they recycle, but don’t consider consuming less or reusing.

Your Top Five Recycling Questions Answered

Questions linger: What is recyclable? How many of the items collected as recycling are actually recycled? Why is recycling still so weirdly confusing in 2026?

1. What is recyclable? What can I put in my curbside bin? What should never go into my curbside bin?