The Recycling Participation Fund

 

Scaled Action to Increase Recycling Rates Across the U.S.

An investment model that helps communities increase recycling participation and accelerate progress toward recycling rate goals.

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The Public Wants Recycling to Work Better

Emerging EPR laws and ambitious recycling rate targets are putting immediate pressure on communities and producers to act. The priority has shifted from access to participation: more than 75% of recyclables are still being lost at the household level instead of becoming new packaging and products. With EPR expanding across 7 states — and 72% of people viewing recycling as a meaningful way to help their communities and the environment — companies and municipalities need scalable recycling compliance solutions now.

The Recycling Participation Fund builds on The Partnership’s proven track record of supporting communities with focused education and outreach to engage residents, reduce contamination, and capture more material. Now we’re our approach to the next level by combining tactics, research, and deployments with innovative community partners to change the way people see, feel, and interact with their local recycling programs. With the right insights, investment, and implementation support, we’re confident that we can move the needle on recycling rates faster.

Putting Research into Action

Drawing on more than 12 years of research and real-world testing, The Recycling Partnership has identified behavior strategies that help communities increase recycling participation, reduce contamination, and build resident confidence in local recycling programs. From direct resident feedback to targeted education and community-centered engagement, these approaches turn behavioral insights into practical solutions that help recover more valuable materials for U.S. manufacturing and strengthen domestic supply chains.

Proven Approaches

Emerging Strategies

Understudied Opportunities
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The Recycling Participation Fund is Supported by:

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Featured Investment

How Targeted Outreach Increased Recycling Participation in Springdale, Arkansas

In 2025, the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District and The Recycling Partnership helped Springdale, Arkansas, residents overcome barriers to recycling through targeted education, direct mail, and in-home recycling bins.

The results: Households receiving bins increased average recycling setouts by 23%, and 19% of feedback mailer recipients corrected contamination behaviors after just one mailing. The project shows how pairing practical resources with clear, actionable education can help more people recycle and strengthen local recycling systems.

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How Your Investment Works

The Recycling Participation Fund accelerates recycling progress through four connected strategies designed to test, prove, and scale effective participation solutions across the recycling program ecosystem.

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Transform Resident Insights into Deployable Strategies

Using the Recycling Confidence Index, focus groups, resident surveys, and community research, the Recycling Participation Fund identifies the barriers, motivations, and behaviors shaping recycling participation today. These insights are translated into omni-channel engagement strategies that communities can deploy in the real world, informing everything from recycling bin placement and labeling to materials recovery facility operations.

Deploy Community Interventions

The Recycling Participation Fund supports on-the-ground community deployments designed to remove everyday barriers to recycling participation and improve resident recycling experiences across single-family and multifamily housing.

Deliver Insights and Storytelling

The Recycling Participation Fund captures what works through case studies, measurable proof points, and implementation learnings that help communities and partners adopt successful approaches faster, and connect recycling program progress to broader sustainability and circular economy goals.

Scale Knowledge Across the Recycling System

Through workshops, webinars, partner convenings, PRO engagement, and the Community Engagement Hub, the Recycling Participation Fund advances knowledge and best practice adoption for communities and partners.

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The Recycling Participation Fund is designed to help the entire recycling value chain increase recycling rates faster together. By convening companies and research partners, we’re optimizing the resources communities need to improve resident recycling recycling behavior and capture more packages from households.

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Ready to Invest in Change?

Anchor funders are investing because meaningful recycling progress requires more than awareness alone. It requires sustained investment in community solutions, resident engagement, and scalable implementation.

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