Plastic Bottle Recycling Volume Declines, but Overall Recycling Rate in the United States Rises

Two industry organizations said when releasing the latest industry data that although the overall volume of plastic recycling in the United States has increased, recycling volumes for different types of plastics have diverged. This reflects the survival challenges facing recycling companies and highlights the need to introduce relevant policy solutions.

According to data jointly released by the Association of Plastic Recyclers and the U.S. Plastics Pact on July 16, the total weight of plastics recycled in the United States in 2024 reached 5.13 billion pounds, an increase of 114.9 million pounds, or 2.3%, from 2022. The data was compiled by data analytics firm Stina, and more detailed data is available on the company’s data dashboard.

Steve Alexander, president and CEO of the Plastics Recycling Association, said, “The industry has proven that we are capable of recycling more than 5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic each year, but merely maintaining the current level of recycling is far from our goal.”

"Plastic recycling is a mature and feasible solution to reduce plastic waste and strengthen the domestic manufacturing industry, and the industry should be poised for significant growth. However, in the current market environment, low-cost virgin plastics are still more favored than recycled plastics. To promote the industry into the next stage of growth, we urgently need relevant policies that, on one hand, stimulate demand for recycled plastics, and on the other hand, provide support for investments along the entire plastic recycling industry chain."

Compared to 2022, the recycling volume of film and other plastic categories has increased; however, due to various issues in the domestic recycling system, the recycling volumes of polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, and polypropylene plastic bottles have all declined.

The category of plastic films has seen the most significant growth, primarily due to retail composite films made from polyethylene, which include commercial films and films returned by consumers. Although the recycling volume of plastic bottles has decreased, the recycling volume of other materials within the mixed recycling system has increased, including thermoformed products made from polyethylene terephthalate and rigid polypropylene products.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) said in a statement that this new two-year dataset is drawn from multiple studies jointly conducted by Stina Inc. and the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR). Based on actual operating data from recycling processors, the research represents the most accurate measure currently available of the total volume of post-consumer plastic recycled in the United States.

Survey feedback indicates that the market remained under sustained pressure throughout 2024, ultimately triggering a wave of PET recycling plant closures in 2025 and 2026. The findings show that rising bale prices, weak demand for recycled polyester (PCR), and persistently low virgin resin prices collectively squeezed recyclers’ profit margins, leaving companies reluctant to invest in additional capacity.

Nevertheless, these data further underscore the determination of various countries to advance domestic plastic recycling. The total amount of plastic recovered reached 4.81 billion pounds, nearly 94% of which was processed by recycling facilities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Recycling companies in the United States alone received 4.35 billion pounds of plastic, indicating that a large-scale domestic plastic recycling infrastructure has already been established there.

Christy Bellis, Executive Director of the U.S. Plastics Pact, said: “These findings further confirm that an effective recycling system depends on coordinated efforts across every part of the value chain. Data like this continues to show that plastic recycling is delivering real results every day, and both residents and businesses can feel confident placing recyclable plastics in the recycling bin. By creating packaging designed for circularity, improving collection and sorting systems, and expanding market demand for recycled materials, we can turn these modest early gains into lasting progress across the entire system.”

The findings of this study align with various strategies proposed in a recent report by the American Plastics Recycling Association on rebuilding and protecting the North American recycling industry. These strategies include increasing funding, improving the collection and sorting systems for recyclable materials, enhancing market demand for recycled plastics, and implementing policies that can support long-term market development.

Systematic data gap

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) also noted that the study highlights the lack of regulations in the United States requiring the reporting of plastics recycling data, making it impossible to uniformly calculate the national plastics recycling rate.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) stated that seven states have so far implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs for packaging waste, and the newly introduced supporting data reporting mechanisms will provide a more comprehensive picture of recycling performance while also serving as a reference for future investment planning and policy discussions.