Search Results

All Results257 News131 Stories32

Deep Dive into Addressing the Intention-Action Gap in Recycling

“How can we support people, how can we design tools and solutions that make it easiest for people to dig in and participate and support the great work of recycling?” — Louise Bruce, managing director of The Recycling Partnership’s Center for Sustainable Behavior & Impact Last month,[...]

Download Our 2016 Annual Report

Our 2016 Annual Report highlights real-time benefits of the transformative organization’s work, focusing on year-on- year growth, systems solutions across the supply chain, and the multiplier effect that intelligently-deployed new infrastructure delivers. “Day to day, we’re always looking fo[...]

The Recycling Partnership Announces First-Ever U.S. Circular Economy Roadmap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New “Bridge to Circularity” Report Calls for $500 Million by 2025 to Transform the U.S. Recycling System Report Emphasizes Need for Creating New Pathways to Recyclability, Unlocking Post-Consumer Material Supply, and Crafting Bold, Transformative Policies Supported by Cut[...]

By The Numbers Webinar: Unpacking the Data Behind Plastics Recycling

In October 2022, The Recycling Partnership kicked off By the Numbers, a new webinar series for industry stakeholders focused on current trends in the U.S. recycling system and a circular economy. The first webinar in this series was held on October 26 and unpacked the data behind plastics recycling[...]

How to Address the Intention-Action Gap in Recycling

The Recycling Partnership’s Center for Sustainable Behavior & Impact’s new Knowledge Report presents four themes for accelerating recycling best practices Recycling is a complex, reverse supply chain—and its success depends on the small, everyday actions of hundreds of millions of people. [...]

Regional Recycling Impact Workshop

The Recycling Partnership and NERC present the 2019 Regional Recycling Impact Workshop Harness the power of your program through tools for fighting contamination, education and outreach, and harmonizing your message to create a stronger recycling system throughout the 11-state region.   The North[...]

MRFshed Report

How likely is it that neighboring communities using the same MRF are talking to their residents about recyclable materials in the same way? As this new report prepared by The Recycling Partnership highlights, not very likely. What are the chances that a community will have easy-to-find recycling i[...]

Download: State of Curbside Report

The 2016 State of Curbside Report is a snapshot of the performance of curbside recycling programs in a number of key communities across the U.S. Over 400 cities were profiled to understand key recycling program attributes and to evaluate their performance in recovering household recyclables at t[...]

Expediting Circularity through U.S. Plastics Pact

Plastic pollution is a global crisis. To confront this emergency in the U.S., industry leaders recognized that individual action would not be enough; transformative, systemwide change is required to establish a path toward a circular economy for plastic. Founded as a solutions-driven consortium by T[...]

Improving MRF Infrastructure to Increase Can Capture

Aluminum cans are among the most widely accepted packages for recycling. Within the packaging industry, they have leading recycled content rates and are consistently among the most valuable materials by weight in the recycling stream. However, according to Can Manufacturers Institute research, up to[...]

Empowering People to Recycle Right

If every home in the U.S. had convenient access to recycling, more than half of recyclable material would still be lost. Why? Because most Americans are confused about what and how to recycle. No recycling system performs at a high level without winning the hearts and minds of consumers to use it pr[...]

Research and Insights into Recycling Behavior Inside the Home Webinar

Recycling is a complex reverse supply chain that begins in the household, but there is limited visibility into what actually happens in the home behind closed doors. While we know approximately half of all household recyclables never make it to a materials recycling facility, nobody knows exactly wh[...]

Annual Report 2017

Check out what we’ve been up to this past year. Highlights of our 2017 Annual Report include: a breakdown of our three biggest city projects, updated metrics, and an impressive, ever-expanding list of our awesome funders who want to create healthier communities across the country through improved [...]

State of Curbside Report 2020

The 2020 State of Curbside Recycling report calls for these clear, integrated strategies: Substantially greater support of community recycling programs with capital funding, technical assistance, and efforts to strengthen and grow local political commitment to recycling services. New and enhanced s[...]

Scaling Statewide Transformation in Michigan

The state of Michigan established the goal of increasing statewide recycling from 14% in 2019 to 45% by 2030. To reach this target, the state increased funding for recycling support, leading to a multiyear collaboration between the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) [...]

Big City Modernization in Baltimore

The Partnership’s unique model of bringing communities and funding partners together, creates meaningful opportunities to drive large scale change in big cities. Prior to the fall of 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, residents lacked a consistent solution for recycling access, making it difficult for the[...]

Driving Packaging Strategies with Plastic IQ

As U.S. companies seek to reduce waste, meet sustainability goals, and stay competitive, many are committing to ambitious packaging strategies designed to end plastic waste. But not all companies have data-driven resources to define these strategies. Plastic IQ is a free, digital strategy-building t[...]

Expanding Equitable Recycling Access in Orlando

When it comes to recycling access, multifamily communities are among the most underserved in the U.S. Members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community are approximately twice as likely to live in multifamily housing as non-BIPOC community members. That’s why The Partnership [...]

Overcoming Recycling Challenges through Coalitions

When a package or material does not meet the criteria for recyclability (see page 23, Pathway to Circularity), companies are encouraged to take action. Coalitions can address the recycling challenges of today and consider solutions for the challenges of tomorrow. The Partnership currently leads thre[...]

Creating Clarity on the Pathway to Circularity

Navigating the recycling system has historically been challenging, in part because there are no widely accepted recyclability standards. Our Pathway to Circularity for Packaging, another example of collaboration to solve a complex challenge, was created to wash away the gray and bring necessary clar[...]

Downloadable Report: Start at the Cart

To make truly informed decisions about improving a municipal program, local leaders would be wise to systematically analyze what is (and isn’t) ending up in recycling receptacles at the individual household level. Case studies from three cities help illustrate the method.

Scaling System Solutions for Action and Impact in the U.S. and Beyond

A “Do-ers” Reflection on Stockholm+50 & the United Nations Ocean Conference  by Keefe Harrison (she/her/hers) , CEO, The Recycling Partnership There is a palpable sense of urgency for environmental action. And it’s not just that we can feel it, we can see it.   The next generati[...]

Catalyzing Recycling System Change in Kalamazoo, Michigan – Impact Story

Kalamazoo runs an opt-in, every-other-week curbside recycling program with 96-gallon carts. In 2022, the city partnered with The Recycling Partnership, national leaders in transforming local recycling systems, with grant funding from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (M[...]

The Recycling Partnership Reports Impact to Date on Aluminum Recycling

Recycling Initiative Drives Capture of 4.1 Million New Pounds of Aluminum Annually   WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 4, 2023) – The Recycling Partnership reported today on the impact of its Aluminum Recycling Initiative (Initiative). Under the Initiative five grants have been issued for the continued a[...]

Statement in Response to Greenpeace ’22 Plastics Recycling Report

We agree that plastic recycling isn’t a panacea for plastics waste.  However the reality is that the world won’t just stop making plastic tomorrow, so what do we do today? We must partner to do the hard but impactful work of building a better system; one that focuses on reducing, reusing and th[...]

National Sword: What is it and how will it impact my program?

This webinar, hosted by The Recycling Partnership’s VP of Industry Collaboration and resident National Sword expert Dylan de Thomas, gives a critical update on what China’s scrap ban and customs enforcement actions are and where it came from. It also covers the potential impact on markets, M[...]

By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR

The Recycling Partnership’s By The Numbers webinar series kicked off 2023 with a special webinar in partnership with Resource Recycling’s Policy Now. By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR, designed for municipal and industry stakeholders as well as policymakers, took a d[...]

Guidance Issued on MRF Contracts for Local Governments

Best Management Practices report helps local recycling programs achieve long-term success Falls Church, Va. (June 24, 2020) – The contract between a local recycling program and a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is one of the most impactful legal documents in the U.S. public recycling system. That[...]

Addressing the Challenge of Film and Flexible Packaging Data

Film and flexible packaging is unlike other packaging when it comes to recycling. For starters, it’s not a single packaging type – the term encompasses a wide range of packaging, from polyethylene (PE) air pillows protecting e-commerce goods to heavy-duty dog food bags, to salty snack bags with [...]

Setting the Record Straight on EPR Policy

Blog Post By: Michael Washburn, Ph.D., Senior Policy Advisor  I’m used to wearing many hats in the recycling policy space. Recycler. Constituent. Policy wonk.  Let’s wear the third hat for a minute and focus on a policy that is making news. I’m referring to extended producer responsibility, [...]

Improving the Quality of Recyclables in Orange County – Case Study

When it comes to capturing the different materials that enter the U.S. residential recycling system, it is as important for residents to know what cannot be recycled as it is to know what can be recycled. Excessive contamination can cause a host of problems once the material is collected. The curbsi[...]

Effective Recycling Bin Labels Reduce Consumer Confusion About Recycling

When educating the public around what is and is not accepted for recycling, space and attention spans are limited. Evidence-based research shows which recycling bin labels are most effective at reducing confusion about recycling  The Recycling Partnership’s recently released Recycling Confidence [...]

2017 Literature Review of Environmental Research

Once a program has successfully motivated behavior change, the question becomes, will the new behavior stick? If not, how long will it last before the program should reach out again? This is a challenging question to answer, as few programs do long-term evaluations, and ultimately, it is dependent o[...]

Blog: Accelerate Recycling through Policy and Partnership

By Keefe Harrison, CEO Partnership is part of our name for a reason. From the start, The Recycling Partnership has believed that public-private partnerships are critical to our mission—and to our mutual success in building a resilient and responsive recycling system.  This approach is at the hear[...]

It’s Time to Come to our System Senses 

I just hopped off the stage at Circularity ’22 and a few things stand out to me about this national drive to improve recycling and launch a circular economy.  Clearly people are frustrated that recycling hasn’t fixed the waste problem yet.  But before we jump to recycling’s failings, let’[...]

Blog: Improving Recycling in Minnesota

Multifamily Recycling Success: How Minnesota Is Making a Difference From college dorms to apartment buildings, multifamily properties often pose unique challenges when it comes to recycling efforts. But four Minnesota communities are proving that education and outreach can have a significant impact [...]

$1.2 Million in Grants Awarded to Spur Advancement of Polypropylene Recycling

Five more grants bring total Polypropylene Recycling Coalition awards to nearly $9 million, impacting 28 million people  The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition (Coalition) continues its steadfast approach to grantmaking and improving the recovery of polypropylene across the[...]

Behavior Change is at the Heart of Everything We Do

By: Elizabeth Schussler, Senior Director of Social Change, Behavior, and Impact At The Recycling Partnership, behavior change is at the heart of everything we do because people and the planet are at our core. A focus on recycling behavior and the impacts of behavior are ingrained in our DNA and our[...]

Tackling Contamination – Say What You Want

By Elizabeth Schussler, Sr Dir Social Change, Behavior and Impact Trying to fight contamination in your local recycling program? Ask specifically for what you want (or don’t want). Our research shows that much of contamination can be solved by telling residents exactly how to recycle properly. (Wa[...]

The Truth on Recycling 

by Keefe Harrison (she/her/hers) , CEO, The Recycling Partnership Frustrated that recycling isn’t fixing the world’s waste problem? Here’s the truth: as it’s built now, it never will.  If we think we can just keep making and buying whatever we want without any planning for what happens wh[...]

Webinar: A COVID-19 Industry Update from The Recycling Partnership

On Wednesday, May 27, The Recycling Partnership hosted a follow-up webinar with industry experts to answer the important question: What are on-the-ground impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis on recycling operations and workers? The supply chain and solid waste have both been deemed essential work i[...]

BLOG: What Helps People Better Understand Recycling Instructions?

Know What to Throw When educating around what goes in – or doesn’t go in a recycling cart – messaging space is limited and attention spans are short. The Recycling Partnership recently set out to identify best practices for signage and mailers to help determine how to communicate the most effe[...]

Fifth Round of MRF Grants Spur Modernization, Impacting Millions Nationwide

A critical component to creating a circular system, one where used packaging can be made into recycled material again and again, is a healthy and efficient materials recovery facility (MRF) system. The Recycling Partnership’s Paying It Forward report estimates the U.S. needs to invest $3 billion t[...]

Sarasota County, Florida is awarded Recycling Program of the Year

During the August 2 Program of the Year Awards Winner Announcement Webinar, hosted by Resource Recycling, The Recycling Partnership was thrilled to join to co-host and announce Sarasota County, Florida as the recipient of the 2023 Recycling Program of the Year—Large Community. Read on to learn mor[...]

Download Our MRF Tracking Form

This form is a tool to facilitate feedback on material quality and to create that needed dialogue between a Material Recovery Facility and its communities. Feedback on each load as a standard operating procedure will help isolate problem areas for better targeting, and track progress in fighting con[...]

Film and Flexibles Packaging: The Path Forward

Recycling is unique. It is a complex, interwoven system where all parts of the value chain need to work for recycling to work. Each piece of the equation is important and cannot be overlooked.  When evaluating the recyclability and ultimately circularity of various packaging, it is important to ack[...]

What Business Wants

This article originally appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Companies want to be seen as doing good for their community and the world. Charities can help — and benefit. By Megan O’Neil Keefe Harrison aspired to a life as a field biologist. In her late teens and 20s, she tagged sea turtles[...]

Additional MRF Modernization Grants Signal System Progress for Polypropylene

With a new round of infrastructure grants underway, the work of The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition highlights an increasing number of recycling facilities investing in sorting and processing polypropylene, demonstrating the expanding commitment to this valuable material.[...]

Small-Town America’s Part in Boosting U.S. Recycling Rates

At The Recycling Partnership, we believe recycling should be possible for all communities, no matter the size or geographic location. And we know it will take all of us—including small-town and rural America—to truly transform the U.S. recycling system and activate a circular economy. However, a[...]

Op-ed: “Global Solutions, Local Scale”

Global Solutions, Local Scale: Recycling Efforts Show Promising Path for Climate Action This op-ed written by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison was originally published by CityFix on Aug. 10, 2017.  Now that cities can no longer rely on the U.S. federal government to take serious action on the global [...]

Critics are wrong about Connecticut’s recycling reform. Here’s the truth

This year, elected officials, community leaders, and advocates have thoughtfully considered extended producer responsibility legislation to enhance recycling in Connecticut. Known as EPR, the policy has churned a rousing debate around its merits and true impact.    As the conversation continues, [...]

Recycling in Atlanta: Increasing Access for Multifamily Housing Communities 

A first-of-its-kind multifamily recycling initiative produced results in Atlanta, Georgia, providing a roadmap for communities across the United States and continued success in Georgia.  The Do You Recycle? Challenge, designed by The Recycling Partnership, city officials and stakeholders, focused o[...]

Op-ed: The Intersection of Profit and Purpose

The following op-ed was penned by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison and published by The Philanthropy Journal on December 18, 2017. Read the original piece here. While society has historically relied on government and nonprofits to create solutions for our largest challenges like hunger, social injusti[...]

The Recycling Partnership Teams Up With City of Chicago to Improve Recycling

This summer and through the fall, The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit that applies corporate partner funding to improve curbside recycling systems in cities and town across the country, will be working with Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) to improve recycling in th[...]

Start at the Cart

This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Resource Recycling magazine. by Cody Marshall and McKenna Morrigan How do you get people to recycle more? What does it take to reduce contamination? How much more high-value recyclable material can be captured through curbside programs? Now[...]

How to Use the GHG Calculator

by Tricia Tiedt What are we wasting for? See how much greenhouse gas (GHG) equivalents you could be saving with our newest interactive online tool. By inputting your community’s households, collection data, and participation rate, the GHG Calculator estimates the tonnage of recyclables and related[...]

Blog: A Corporate Perspective Turned Inside Out

Featuring Sarah Dearman and Steph Kersten-Johnston We’ve recently welcomed two new staff members who have joined us from the corporate world: Sarah Dearman, formerly Sustainable Packaging Program Director at Coca-Cola North America, is now our new VP of New Ventures; Steph Kersten-Johnston, forme[...]

The 2017 Costs of Contamination MRF Working Group Survey

In mid-2017, The Recycling Partnership surveyed its MRF Working Group to identify top contaminants and their impact at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) level. In gathering data using a matrix [Appendix 1], the surveyed group members provided detail on Labor; Facility Down Time; Disposal; Equipm[...]

The Recycling Partnership Releases Strategy for Improving U.S. Recycling

On America Recycles Day the nation’s leading recycling NGO issues 5-Point Plan to give Americans a better recycling system. Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2022 – The Recycling Partnership, a mission-driven NGO committed to advancing a circular economy by building a better recycling system, is a[...]

The Power of Bringing People Together

This August, many of us at The Recycling Partnership were able to do something that hasn’t been done since 2019 – attend the Resource Recycling Conference (RRC) in person. RRC is the only national event that is dedicated to enhancing municipal recycling and The Partnership is proud to have worke[...]

Bridge to Circularity

It’s time to develop a circular economy for packaging in the U.S. We’re launching several new initiatives to start building the Bridge to Circularity, including Recycling 2.0 – an opportunity for all stakeholders to collaborate to develop the recycling system of the future.

Meet Your Community’s Recycling Resolutions with These Tools & Resources

How are your new year’s resolutions coming? Regardless of where you are with cleaning out the garage, organizing those cabinets, or learning how to knit, there’s still time to help your community meet its recycling resolutions. Our free tools and resources can help you do just that: Personalize[...]

Blog: Plastic IQ – Advancing Company Decision-Making on Plastics

By Ben Dixon, Partner, SYSTEMIQ & Keefe Harrison, CEO, The Recycling Partnership The challenge of plastic waste is too big to ignore and too difficult to solve alone. Good work to collectively reduce the use of virgin plastic and build recycling solutions for more types of plastics is underway. [...]

Webinar: COVID-19 and its Effects on Recycling

On Tuesday, March 31, The Recycling Partnership hosted a webinar for cities, states and industry partners to provide timely and comprehensive information about the state of the recycling and solid waste industry during the times of COVID-19. We heard from the leading voices at our most trusted indus[...]

Americans Strongly Believe in Recycling

Congressional Webinar: Recycling 101 & Impacts of COVID-19 New survey data from The Recycling Partnership and SWNS confirms that 85% of Americans strongly believe in recycling. This is especially timely as we all navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on communities and recycling busines[...]

A $17B Investment in Recycling Will Leverage a System That Delivers Tons

By Keefe Harrison CEO, The Recycling Partnership It’s no secret that we at The Recycling Partnership like data. Our commitment to building and sharing robust analyses with the public and private sectors to drive recycling improvements is core to our mission. The release of our newest report is p[...]

A Tribute to Steve Thompson a True Leader

We are saddened to report Steve Thompson died suddenly last week. Steve was a recycling champion, a mentor to many, a member of our family for more than a decade as Executive Director, and an intensely valued friend to the industry. Steve held a vision for improved recycling and his leadership, thro[...]

Press Release: 2017 RRC Grants Announced

Industry Collaboration Delivers More Than $80,000 For Recycling Education Grants Today, The Recycling Partnership announced the recipients of its Steve Thompson Memorial Education Grants program to bring more than 50 recycling professionals from across the U.S. to Minneapolis for the 2017 Resource R[...]

Resolve To Recycle More, Better in the New Year

Tired of the same old new year’s resolutions? You know, the ones you abandon before February? Why not resolve to recycle more where you work, live, learn, buy, and play? It’s not only a simple resolution, it’s one that benefits the environment, creates jobs, reduces litter, and benefits future[...]

New Circular Packaging Spotlight for a Few Familiar Formats

Solutions for recyclable packaging are not one-size-fits-all. From aluminum beverage cans to glass bottles, each specific packaging material and format has its own unique recycling benefits and challenges, like design features or sorting technology. But addressing complex problems in siloes won’t [...]

Case Study: Personalized Recycling Education to Reduce Contamination

Custom mailers continued to drive contamination downward for 6 months after intervention This pilot project involved installing cameras on recycling trucks to identify contamination from carts. The cameras were programmed to send images, with a geo-tag of the street address, for AI analys[...]

Webinar Registration: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR

The Recycling Partnership’s By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR presented in partnership with Resource Recycling’s Policy Now Please join us online this month for By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR. Save the date for Tuesday, March 21, 1 p.m. ET[...]

Case Study: A Look at Contamination Reduction in the State of Washington

A partnership that combined city, county, haulers, and their material recovery facility (MRF) to show the effectiveness of messaging at the curb in Spokane with amplified messaging throughout Spokane County. As with many recycling education programs, reducing contamination was the primary goal for a[...]

Nashville Receives Investment to Support Increased Recycling Collection

The Recycling Partnership, American Beverage, and the Beverage Association of Tennessee invest in education for enhanced recycling collection, expected to generate millions of new pounds of recyclable material   WASHINGTON D.C. – The City of Nashville on January 11 announced the launch of enhanc[...]

Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition Grant Advances Film Recovery

System solutions for film recovery and recycling are desperately needed to help address the full scale of the plastic waste crisis and save millions of tons of plastic materials from landfills. The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition is on the cutting edge of this wo[...]

On-the-ground Engagement at the Upcoming Plastic Pollution Treaty INC-1

On November 26, hundreds of stakeholders from across the globe will travel to Uruguay, to kick off the first of five sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. This marks the beginning of formal U.N. memb[...]

Small Town Residential Recycling Improvements Aid Big Changes for Environment

What do piles of bulky waste in residential Ohio, the shore towns in Atlantic County, New Jersey, and billboards in Indiana have in common? They’re all part of The Recycling Partnership’s work to enhance recycling in small and rural communities across the United States. Recycling should be possi[...]

Earth Day 2023: A Call to Invest In Our Planet

Investing in Our Planet Takes All of Us. On Earth Day and Every Day, We Can Start by Building a Better Recycling System. Earth Day’s 2023 theme – Invest In Our Planet is centered around engaging more than 1 billion people, all levels of government, organizations and companies that participate in[...]

How can we create more equitable recycling outreach?

According to the latest U.S. Census data, we are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as a nation. In turn, this means that our recycling outreach programs need to become more inclusive and accessible as well.   At the 2023 Resource Recycling Conference in Orlando, Florida, we introduced [...]

Earth Day 2024: Let’s Turn Belief into Action

By Keefe Harrison Happy Earth Day! As we celebrate this special day, we want to hear YOUR story. What’s your experience with recycling? What do you need to feel fully engaged in the process?

Opening Doors to Multifamily Recycling in Houston – Case Study

Houston’s recycling system already reaches single-family homes citywide, with curbside collection and drop-off sites. But until now, recycling access for multifamily residents has been limited to just a handful of properties, even as multifamily housing continues to grow. Through a grant providing[...]

Massachusetts Tackles Contamination with Partnership

This article was originally published by Waste360 on May 23, 2017. Massachusetts Takes A Lead from The Recycling Partnership to Stem Contamination Most residents believed they understood the rules, as surveys showed. But when DEP tested that theory it saw a huge gap between people’s perception of [...]

Watch: “Recycling – Video Games”

Part of The Partnership’s “It’s All You” campaign for the City of Chicago, this video shows adults and kids alike how everyday recycling can make a big impact – like saving the world.

ExxonMobil Joins The Recycling Partnership with $1.5 Million Commitment

Global leader ExxonMobil is the first energy company to join The Recycling Partnership, a rapidly growing national nonprofit that leverages corporate investment to transform recycling for good in hundreds of communities across the country. Through support and collaboration, ExxonMobil, along with 34[...]

Blog: There’s no time to be timid

Greetings from Abu Dhabi. As the 2019 World Ocean Summit wraps up, and I prepare to head home, I’ve settled on my mantra for the year: There’s no time to be timid. Warming waters. Acidification. Marine debris. The ocean is the pulse of our planet and it needs our help.  We know that climate ch[...]

Blog: Start at the Cart™: Key Concepts for Influencing Behavior

Recycling is many things. It is both a noun and a verb. To a waste professional it may be the collection and diversion of tons of marketable materials. To community members, recycling is an easy way to waste less and to contribute to the greater good. When asked about recyclables, however, most mist[...]

First-Ever Can Capture RFP Announced for MRFs in Southeastern U.S.

The Recycling Partnership Joins CMI as Grant Program Partner to Evaluate Proposals and Provide Technical Assistance for Projects that Target Missorted or Lost Cans at Recycling Centers in the Southeast FALLS CHURCH, Va (JAN. 26, 2021) – The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and The Recycling P[...]

The Recycling Partnership Announces Results of Annual Board Election

FALLS CHURCH, VA (July 20, 2021) – The newly-elected Board Directors of The Recycling Partnership bring unmatched sustainability and industry knowledge, and business expertise to help lead The Partnership’s work to transform the U.S. recycling system and activate a circular economy for packaging[...]

Mayor Brown Launches “Let’s Do This Together!”

BUFFALO – Today, Mayor Byron W. Brown announced that the City of Buffalo, in partnership with The Recycling Partnership, will sponsor a Multi-Unit Apartment Building Recycling Initiative called “Let’s Do This Together!”. The six-month pilot initiative aims to initially increase recycling col[...]

Download Our 2016 Annual Report

Our 2016 Annual Report highlights real-time benefits of the transformative organization’s work, focusing on year-on- year growth, systems solutions across the supply chain, and the multiplier effect that intelligently-deployed new infrastructure delivers. “Day to day, we’re always looking fo[...]

The Recycling Partnership Announces First-Ever U.S. Circular Economy Roadmap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New “Bridge to Circularity” Report Calls for $500 Million by 2025 to Transform the U.S. Recycling System Report Emphasizes Need for Creating New Pathways to Recyclability, Unlocking Post-Consumer Material Supply, and Crafting Bold, Transformative Policies Supported by Cut[...]

By The Numbers Webinar: Unpacking the Data Behind Plastics Recycling

In October 2022, The Recycling Partnership kicked off By the Numbers, a new webinar series for industry stakeholders focused on current trends in the U.S. recycling system and a circular economy. The first webinar in this series was held on October 26 and unpacked the data behind plastics recycling[...]

How to Address the Intention-Action Gap in Recycling

The Recycling Partnership’s Center for Sustainable Behavior & Impact’s new Knowledge Report presents four themes for accelerating recycling best practices Recycling is a complex, reverse supply chain—and its success depends on the small, everyday actions of hundreds of millions of people. [...]

Regional Recycling Impact Workshop

The Recycling Partnership and NERC present the 2019 Regional Recycling Impact Workshop Harness the power of your program through tools for fighting contamination, education and outreach, and harmonizing your message to create a stronger recycling system throughout the 11-state region.   The North[...]

Research and Insights into Recycling Behavior Inside the Home Webinar

Recycling is a complex reverse supply chain that begins in the household, but there is limited visibility into what actually happens in the home behind closed doors. While we know approximately half of all household recyclables never make it to a materials recycling facility, nobody knows exactly wh[...]

Annual Report 2017

Check out what we’ve been up to this past year. Highlights of our 2017 Annual Report include: a breakdown of our three biggest city projects, updated metrics, and an impressive, ever-expanding list of our awesome funders who want to create healthier communities across the country through improved [...]

State of Curbside Report 2020

The 2020 State of Curbside Recycling report calls for these clear, integrated strategies: Substantially greater support of community recycling programs with capital funding, technical assistance, and efforts to strengthen and grow local political commitment to recycling services. New and enhanced s[...]

The Recycling Partnership Reports Impact to Date on Aluminum Recycling

Recycling Initiative Drives Capture of 4.1 Million New Pounds of Aluminum Annually   WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 4, 2023) – The Recycling Partnership reported today on the impact of its Aluminum Recycling Initiative (Initiative). Under the Initiative five grants have been issued for the continued a[...]

Statement in Response to Greenpeace ’22 Plastics Recycling Report

We agree that plastic recycling isn’t a panacea for plastics waste.  However the reality is that the world won’t just stop making plastic tomorrow, so what do we do today? We must partner to do the hard but impactful work of building a better system; one that focuses on reducing, reusing and th[...]

By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR

The Recycling Partnership’s By The Numbers webinar series kicked off 2023 with a special webinar in partnership with Resource Recycling’s Policy Now. By The Numbers Webinar: Transforming U.S. Recycling with EPR, designed for municipal and industry stakeholders as well as policymakers, took a d[...]

Guidance Issued on MRF Contracts for Local Governments

Best Management Practices report helps local recycling programs achieve long-term success Falls Church, Va. (June 24, 2020) – The contract between a local recycling program and a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is one of the most impactful legal documents in the U.S. public recycling system. That[...]

Blog: Accelerate Recycling through Policy and Partnership

By Keefe Harrison, CEO Partnership is part of our name for a reason. From the start, The Recycling Partnership has believed that public-private partnerships are critical to our mission—and to our mutual success in building a resilient and responsive recycling system.  This approach is at the hear[...]

Blog: Improving Recycling in Minnesota

Multifamily Recycling Success: How Minnesota Is Making a Difference From college dorms to apartment buildings, multifamily properties often pose unique challenges when it comes to recycling efforts. But four Minnesota communities are proving that education and outreach can have a significant impact [...]

$1.2 Million in Grants Awarded to Spur Advancement of Polypropylene Recycling

Five more grants bring total Polypropylene Recycling Coalition awards to nearly $9 million, impacting 28 million people  The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition (Coalition) continues its steadfast approach to grantmaking and improving the recovery of polypropylene across the[...]

Behavior Change is at the Heart of Everything We Do

By: Elizabeth Schussler, Senior Director of Social Change, Behavior, and Impact At The Recycling Partnership, behavior change is at the heart of everything we do because people and the planet are at our core. A focus on recycling behavior and the impacts of behavior are ingrained in our DNA and our[...]

Webinar: A COVID-19 Industry Update from The Recycling Partnership

On Wednesday, May 27, The Recycling Partnership hosted a follow-up webinar with industry experts to answer the important question: What are on-the-ground impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis on recycling operations and workers? The supply chain and solid waste have both been deemed essential work i[...]

Fifth Round of MRF Grants Spur Modernization, Impacting Millions Nationwide

A critical component to creating a circular system, one where used packaging can be made into recycled material again and again, is a healthy and efficient materials recovery facility (MRF) system. The Recycling Partnership’s Paying It Forward report estimates the U.S. needs to invest $3 billion t[...]

What Business Wants

This article originally appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Companies want to be seen as doing good for their community and the world. Charities can help — and benefit. By Megan O’Neil Keefe Harrison aspired to a life as a field biologist. In her late teens and 20s, she tagged sea turtles[...]

Op-ed: “Global Solutions, Local Scale”

Global Solutions, Local Scale: Recycling Efforts Show Promising Path for Climate Action This op-ed written by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison was originally published by CityFix on Aug. 10, 2017.  Now that cities can no longer rely on the U.S. federal government to take serious action on the global [...]

Op-ed: The Intersection of Profit and Purpose

The following op-ed was penned by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison and published by The Philanthropy Journal on December 18, 2017. Read the original piece here. While society has historically relied on government and nonprofits to create solutions for our largest challenges like hunger, social injusti[...]

The Recycling Partnership Teams Up With City of Chicago to Improve Recycling

This summer and through the fall, The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit that applies corporate partner funding to improve curbside recycling systems in cities and town across the country, will be working with Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) to improve recycling in th[...]

Start at the Cart

This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Resource Recycling magazine. by Cody Marshall and McKenna Morrigan How do you get people to recycle more? What does it take to reduce contamination? How much more high-value recyclable material can be captured through curbside programs? Now[...]

The 2017 Costs of Contamination MRF Working Group Survey

In mid-2017, The Recycling Partnership surveyed its MRF Working Group to identify top contaminants and their impact at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) level. In gathering data using a matrix [Appendix 1], the surveyed group members provided detail on Labor; Facility Down Time; Disposal; Equipm[...]

The Recycling Partnership Releases Strategy for Improving U.S. Recycling

On America Recycles Day the nation’s leading recycling NGO issues 5-Point Plan to give Americans a better recycling system. Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2022 – The Recycling Partnership, a mission-driven NGO committed to advancing a circular economy by building a better recycling system, is a[...]

Bridge to Circularity

It’s time to develop a circular economy for packaging in the U.S. We’re launching several new initiatives to start building the Bridge to Circularity, including Recycling 2.0 – an opportunity for all stakeholders to collaborate to develop the recycling system of the future.

Blog: Plastic IQ – Advancing Company Decision-Making on Plastics

By Ben Dixon, Partner, SYSTEMIQ & Keefe Harrison, CEO, The Recycling Partnership The challenge of plastic waste is too big to ignore and too difficult to solve alone. Good work to collectively reduce the use of virgin plastic and build recycling solutions for more types of plastics is underway. [...]

Webinar: COVID-19 and its Effects on Recycling

On Tuesday, March 31, The Recycling Partnership hosted a webinar for cities, states and industry partners to provide timely and comprehensive information about the state of the recycling and solid waste industry during the times of COVID-19. We heard from the leading voices at our most trusted indus[...]

Americans Strongly Believe in Recycling

Congressional Webinar: Recycling 101 & Impacts of COVID-19 New survey data from The Recycling Partnership and SWNS confirms that 85% of Americans strongly believe in recycling. This is especially timely as we all navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on communities and recycling busines[...]

A Tribute to Steve Thompson a True Leader

We are saddened to report Steve Thompson died suddenly last week. Steve was a recycling champion, a mentor to many, a member of our family for more than a decade as Executive Director, and an intensely valued friend to the industry. Steve held a vision for improved recycling and his leadership, thro[...]

Press Release: 2017 RRC Grants Announced

Industry Collaboration Delivers More Than $80,000 For Recycling Education Grants Today, The Recycling Partnership announced the recipients of its Steve Thompson Memorial Education Grants program to bring more than 50 recycling professionals from across the U.S. to Minneapolis for the 2017 Resource R[...]

Resolve To Recycle More, Better in the New Year

Tired of the same old new year’s resolutions? You know, the ones you abandon before February? Why not resolve to recycle more where you work, live, learn, buy, and play? It’s not only a simple resolution, it’s one that benefits the environment, creates jobs, reduces litter, and benefits future[...]

Nashville Receives Investment to Support Increased Recycling Collection

The Recycling Partnership, American Beverage, and the Beverage Association of Tennessee invest in education for enhanced recycling collection, expected to generate millions of new pounds of recyclable material   WASHINGTON D.C. – The City of Nashville on January 11 announced the launch of enhanc[...]

Earth Day 2024: Let’s Turn Belief into Action

By Keefe Harrison Happy Earth Day! As we celebrate this special day, we want to hear YOUR story. What’s your experience with recycling? What do you need to feel fully engaged in the process?

Massachusetts Tackles Contamination with Partnership

This article was originally published by Waste360 on May 23, 2017. Massachusetts Takes A Lead from The Recycling Partnership to Stem Contamination Most residents believed they understood the rules, as surveys showed. But when DEP tested that theory it saw a huge gap between people’s perception of [...]

Watch: “Recycling – Video Games”

Part of The Partnership’s “It’s All You” campaign for the City of Chicago, this video shows adults and kids alike how everyday recycling can make a big impact – like saving the world.

ExxonMobil Joins The Recycling Partnership with $1.5 Million Commitment

Global leader ExxonMobil is the first energy company to join The Recycling Partnership, a rapidly growing national nonprofit that leverages corporate investment to transform recycling for good in hundreds of communities across the country. Through support and collaboration, ExxonMobil, along with 34[...]

Blog: Start at the Cart™: Key Concepts for Influencing Behavior

Recycling is many things. It is both a noun and a verb. To a waste professional it may be the collection and diversion of tons of marketable materials. To community members, recycling is an easy way to waste less and to contribute to the greater good. When asked about recyclables, however, most mist[...]

First-Ever Can Capture RFP Announced for MRFs in Southeastern U.S.

The Recycling Partnership Joins CMI as Grant Program Partner to Evaluate Proposals and Provide Technical Assistance for Projects that Target Missorted or Lost Cans at Recycling Centers in the Southeast FALLS CHURCH, Va (JAN. 26, 2021) – The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and The Recycling P[...]

The Recycling Partnership Announces Results of Annual Board Election

FALLS CHURCH, VA (July 20, 2021) – The newly-elected Board Directors of The Recycling Partnership bring unmatched sustainability and industry knowledge, and business expertise to help lead The Partnership’s work to transform the U.S. recycling system and activate a circular economy for packaging[...]

Mayor Brown Launches “Let’s Do This Together!”

BUFFALO – Today, Mayor Byron W. Brown announced that the City of Buffalo, in partnership with The Recycling Partnership, will sponsor a Multi-Unit Apartment Building Recycling Initiative called “Let’s Do This Together!”. The six-month pilot initiative aims to initially increase recycling col[...]

Expediting Circularity through U.S. Plastics Pact

Plastic pollution is a global crisis. To confront this emergency in the U.S., industry leaders recognized that individual action would not be enough; transformative, systemwide change is required to establish a path toward a circular economy for plastic. Founded as a solutions-driven consortium by T[...]

Improving MRF Infrastructure to Increase Can Capture

Aluminum cans are among the most widely accepted packages for recycling. Within the packaging industry, they have leading recycled content rates and are consistently among the most valuable materials by weight in the recycling stream. However, according to Can Manufacturers Institute research, up to[...]

Empowering People to Recycle Right

If every home in the U.S. had convenient access to recycling, more than half of recyclable material would still be lost. Why? Because most Americans are confused about what and how to recycle. No recycling system performs at a high level without winning the hearts and minds of consumers to use it pr[...]

Scaling Statewide Transformation in Michigan

The state of Michigan established the goal of increasing statewide recycling from 14% in 2019 to 45% by 2030. To reach this target, the state increased funding for recycling support, leading to a multiyear collaboration between the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) [...]

Big City Modernization in Baltimore

The Partnership’s unique model of bringing communities and funding partners together, creates meaningful opportunities to drive large scale change in big cities. Prior to the fall of 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, residents lacked a consistent solution for recycling access, making it difficult for the[...]

Driving Packaging Strategies with Plastic IQ

As U.S. companies seek to reduce waste, meet sustainability goals, and stay competitive, many are committing to ambitious packaging strategies designed to end plastic waste. But not all companies have data-driven resources to define these strategies. Plastic IQ is a free, digital strategy-building t[...]

Expanding Equitable Recycling Access in Orlando

When it comes to recycling access, multifamily communities are among the most underserved in the U.S. Members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community are approximately twice as likely to live in multifamily housing as non-BIPOC community members. That’s why The Partnership [...]

Overcoming Recycling Challenges through Coalitions

When a package or material does not meet the criteria for recyclability (see page 23, Pathway to Circularity), companies are encouraged to take action. Coalitions can address the recycling challenges of today and consider solutions for the challenges of tomorrow. The Partnership currently leads thre[...]

Creating Clarity on the Pathway to Circularity

Navigating the recycling system has historically been challenging, in part because there are no widely accepted recyclability standards. Our Pathway to Circularity for Packaging, another example of collaboration to solve a complex challenge, was created to wash away the gray and bring necessary clar[...]

Scaling System Solutions for Action and Impact in the U.S. and Beyond

A “Do-ers” Reflection on Stockholm+50 & the United Nations Ocean Conference  by Keefe Harrison (she/her/hers) , CEO, The Recycling Partnership There is a palpable sense of urgency for environmental action. And it’s not just that we can feel it, we can see it.   The next generati[...]

Addressing the Challenge of Film and Flexible Packaging Data

Film and flexible packaging is unlike other packaging when it comes to recycling. For starters, it’s not a single packaging type – the term encompasses a wide range of packaging, from polyethylene (PE) air pillows protecting e-commerce goods to heavy-duty dog food bags, to salty snack bags with [...]

Improving the Quality of Recyclables in Orange County – Case Study

When it comes to capturing the different materials that enter the U.S. residential recycling system, it is as important for residents to know what cannot be recycled as it is to know what can be recycled. Excessive contamination can cause a host of problems once the material is collected. The curbsi[...]

Effective Recycling Bin Labels Reduce Consumer Confusion About Recycling

When educating the public around what is and is not accepted for recycling, space and attention spans are limited. Evidence-based research shows which recycling bin labels are most effective at reducing confusion about recycling  The Recycling Partnership’s recently released Recycling Confidence [...]

It’s Time to Come to our System Senses 

I just hopped off the stage at Circularity ’22 and a few things stand out to me about this national drive to improve recycling and launch a circular economy.  Clearly people are frustrated that recycling hasn’t fixed the waste problem yet.  But before we jump to recycling’s failings, let’[...]

Tackling Contamination – Say What You Want

By Elizabeth Schussler, Sr Dir Social Change, Behavior and Impact Trying to fight contamination in your local recycling program? Ask specifically for what you want (or don’t want). Our research shows that much of contamination can be solved by telling residents exactly how to recycle properly. (Wa[...]

The Truth on Recycling 

by Keefe Harrison (she/her/hers) , CEO, The Recycling Partnership Frustrated that recycling isn’t fixing the world’s waste problem? Here’s the truth: as it’s built now, it never will.  If we think we can just keep making and buying whatever we want without any planning for what happens wh[...]

BLOG: What Helps People Better Understand Recycling Instructions?

Know What to Throw When educating around what goes in – or doesn’t go in a recycling cart – messaging space is limited and attention spans are short. The Recycling Partnership recently set out to identify best practices for signage and mailers to help determine how to communicate the most effe[...]

Fifth Round of MRF Grants Spur Modernization, Impacting Millions Nationwide

A critical component to creating a circular system, one where used packaging can be made into recycled material again and again, is a healthy and efficient materials recovery facility (MRF) system. The Recycling Partnership’s Paying It Forward report estimates the U.S. needs to invest $3 billion t[...]

Blog: A Corporate Perspective Turned Inside Out

Featuring Sarah Dearman and Steph Kersten-Johnston We’ve recently welcomed two new staff members who have joined us from the corporate world: Sarah Dearman, formerly Sustainable Packaging Program Director at Coca-Cola North America, is now our new VP of New Ventures; Steph Kersten-Johnston, forme[...]

A $17B Investment in Recycling Will Leverage a System That Delivers Tons

By Keefe Harrison CEO, The Recycling Partnership It’s no secret that we at The Recycling Partnership like data. Our commitment to building and sharing robust analyses with the public and private sectors to drive recycling improvements is core to our mission. The release of our newest report is p[...]

Resolve To Recycle More, Better in the New Year

Tired of the same old new year’s resolutions? You know, the ones you abandon before February? Why not resolve to recycle more where you work, live, learn, buy, and play? It’s not only a simple resolution, it’s one that benefits the environment, creates jobs, reduces litter, and benefits future[...]

Case Study: A Look at Contamination Reduction in the State of Washington

A partnership that combined city, county, haulers, and their material recovery facility (MRF) to show the effectiveness of messaging at the curb in Spokane with amplified messaging throughout Spokane County. As with many recycling education programs, reducing contamination was the primary goal for a[...]

Small Town Residential Recycling Improvements Aid Big Changes for Environment

What do piles of bulky waste in residential Ohio, the shore towns in Atlantic County, New Jersey, and billboards in Indiana have in common? They’re all part of The Recycling Partnership’s work to enhance recycling in small and rural communities across the United States. Recycling should be possi[...]

Blog: There’s no time to be timid

Greetings from Abu Dhabi. As the 2019 World Ocean Summit wraps up, and I prepare to head home, I’ve settled on my mantra for the year: There’s no time to be timid. Warming waters. Acidification. Marine debris. The ocean is the pulse of our planet and it needs our help.  We know that climate ch[...]