Under California’s new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law, polypropylene must achieve a 65% recycling rate by 2032 — far above the current 2% rate published by CalRecycle. Getting there will take bold action across the recycling system, from curbside collection to end-market reuse.
Anticipating this need, The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition has applied its expertise and leadership to build an ecosystem that captures polypropylene (also known as #5 plastic) and gives it a second life in new products. In the San Francisco Bay Area, this layered investment has driven a nearly 50% increase in polypropylene capture and supported a recycling supply chain that can be modeled across the state. Here’s how.
Crucial Upgrades in San Jose
GreenWaste, a resource recovery and recycling company serving more than 330,000 customers in Northern California, operates a CalRecycle-designated “high diversion” materials recovery facility (MRF) in San Jose.
A grant from The Recycling Partnership funded an optical sorter to improve polypropylene recovery which enabled the capture of more polypropylene containers and improved the ability to respond to end-market demand across the region. This diverts more polypropylene from landfills while delivering higher-quality, marketable bales of post-consumer recycled material.
Setting the System Up for Success
Through a decade of deploying recycling solutions, we know investing in MRFs is important, but it’s not enough. Infrastructure upgrades may close the capture gap, but education is the key to closing the recovery gap.
To meet this gap, The Partnership committed a second investment in communities that GreenWaste serves to push more of the right material into the system. Drawing on years of education and outreach expertise, this investment focused on polypropylene specific materials, including a print and digital newsletter, with direct mailers to strengthen understanding and participation.
Strategic Investment for Lasting Change
A strong polypropylene recycling system needs end markets that can turn recovered material into new products. The Partnership has helped by investing in reclaimers and processors such as Talco Plastics in Long Beach, California, and Denton Plastics in Portland, Oregon, helping keep recovered polypropylene in circulation and out of landfill.
As EPR laws advance across California, Oregon, and Washington, strong end-market demand will be essential to meeting ambitious recycling targets. Together, the GreenWaste and regional projects show what happens when infrastructure, outreach, and end markets move in sync.
When collection, education, and end markets move together, recycling works better. Let’s solve recycling’s toughest challenges, together.