Joint Effort Between The Recycling Partnership and GreenBlue Harmonizes Industry Data to Improve Packaging Design, Recycling Infrastructure Investment, and Policy
NEW YORK (Sept. 23, 2024) — As part of a joint initiative with GreenBlue, The Recycling Partnership (The Partnership) released its U.S. Community Recycling Program Acceptance Data (Acceptance Data) for the very first time. Powered by The Partnership’s National Recycling Database, the Acceptance Data provides the most up-to-date information on which materials are accepted in recycling programs across the U.S.
The U.S. recycling system is a complex network of 9,000+ separate local recycling programs that process billions of pounds of material each year. The Partnership’s National Database captures local recycling program data, representing 99% of the U.S. population, and features a set of systems, including generative AI, that tracks local changes on the acceptance of over 50 different categories of recyclables.
Until today, communicating the recyclability of packaging has been informed by a national-scale study conducted every five years. The Partnership’s Acceptance Data will be published twice-annually and will serve as a key data point informing GreenBlue’s How2Recycle® labeling system. Together, The Partnership and GreenBlue are making available to brands, retailers, material producers, policymakers, and the public more frequently updated, localized, and harmonized recycling program acceptance data.
“Actionable, up-to-date data about what is and is not accepted in towns across America is critical if we are going to improve our recycling rates,” said Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. “As a result of this initiative, the public, companies and policy makers now have the timely information they need to make better recycling decisions.”
“There is a growing demand for up-to-date, industry-aligned data that affords a more in-depth understanding of what materials are accepted in local recycling programs across the country,” said Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue. “That is why, moving forward, GreenBlue will reference The Recycling Partnership’s National Database and Community Recycling Program Acceptance Data as the trusted source for packaging recyclability to inform How2Recycle’s recyclability assessments for on-pack labeling.”
This joint initiative offers several key benefits to brands, retailers, and materials manufacturers:
- Increased Data Accuracy: By improving the frequency and recency of Acceptance Data, the initiative ensures that the industry has access to up-to-date, reliable information.
- Harmonization of Definitions: Establishing standardized definitions and taxonomies across the industry reduces complexity and confusion, making it easier to communicate and work together to improve the recycling system.
- Clearer Distinctions: By clarifying the differences between “access” and “acceptance,” the initiative helps the industry better understand and navigate key components of the recycling system, which are crucial to addressing its challenges.
- Informed Decision-Making: The collaborative effort promotes industry-wide alignment, enabling more informed decisions that strengthen the effectiveness of recycling efforts nationwide.
- Deeper Engagement: The initiative encourages deeper industry engagement and understanding of the U.S. recycling system, fostering long-term commitment to improvement and innovation in packaging design and recycling practices.
To view acceptance insights available in today’s Acceptance Data Release, visit https://recyclingpartnership.org/recycling-data.
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership is a purpose-driven organization committed to building a better recycling system, one that delivers the economic and environmental benefits our communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who work throughout the recycling industry deserve. The Recycling Partnership’s team of experts, practitioners, and thought leaders with real-world experience works with its partners to insist on meaningful change across the recycling system and assist communities, companies, and policymakers in enacting such change. The Recycling Partnership uses its one-of-a-kind National Recycling Database that encompasses more than 9,000 U.S. recycling programs and develops practical and innovative solutions to address critical gaps in the recycling system. Learn more at recyclingpartnership.org.
About How2Recycle, a Project of GreenBlue
Launched in 2012, the How2Recycle program issues the most recognizable on-pack disposal instruction across the U.S. and Canada. With more than 800 members and labels issued for hundreds of thousands of packaging products, How2Recycle leads the industry in consumer disposal communications. To determine a material’s recyclability for its on-pack label designations, How2Recycle uses national data to assess applicable law, access to collection, sortation, technical reprocessability, and end markets. How2Recycle is a project of the environmental nonprofit, GreenBlue. The How2Recycle mission is to simplify the recycling process and take the guesswork out of disposal to get more materials into the recycling bin. Learn more at greenblue.org/projects/how2recycle/.