“The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition brings stakeholders to the table to have good, hard, challenging conversations. And, we’re walking away with strategy.” - Stephanie Baker, KW Plastics
About the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition
The Recycling Partnership launched the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition in 2020 with a single goal in mind — unlock the potential of a 2-billion-pound opportunity to capture and recycle more polypropylene. The Coalition brings leading industry stakeholders together to exchange ideas, provide funding, and take collective action to address the recycling challenges of this material that is part of daily life, used in everything from yogurt cups to butter tubs to beauty product packaging. Its unique performance properties for protecting and transporting products means it has massive potential in the circular economy, but only if it stays out of the landfills.
To unlock the recycling potential of polypropylene, the Coalition prioritizes three key areas:
- Increasing access to residential recycling for polypropylene
- Ensuring more recycling facilities can successfully sort polypropylene
- Supporting responsible end markets with a steady supply of recycled polypropylene for reuse in packaging
It All Starts at the Curb
No material can be reclaimed if residents do not know where to put it. Only 60-65% of people across the U.S. have access to recycle polypropylene, and only 30% of polypropylene used in consumer products is recycled. Part of the Coalition’s ongoing mission is to increase community engagement and education to ensure the right material gets placed in the right bin. Through the Coalition’s efforts, 48 million more people across the U.S. now have access to recycle polypropylene.
Supporting the Recycling Facilities
The Coalition works toward targeted system change and on-the-ground action by providing grants and technical expertise to recycling facilities to increase access to the ability to efficiently sort key polypropylene formats. To date, the Coalition has awarded $15 million in grants to over 60 recycling facilities across the country to upgrade their infrastructure to better sort polypropylene, resulting in more desirable material to resell to new markets.
Creating a More Valuable End Market
Recycled polypropylene can be turned into new packaging, housewares, buckets, gardening supplies, and more. The final piece of the puzzle in making polypropylene widely recycled is ensuring there is a healthy market for all that reclaimed material.
Results by the Numbers (as of December 2024)
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To date, 60 grants have resulted in $22 million to recycling facilities to support new and improved polypropylene sorting.
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Since the Coalition’s founding, we’ve provided new or improved access to polypropylene recycling to 48 million people.
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68 million new pounds of valuable polypropylene recovered annually for processing in growing domestic markets.
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Map: Residential recycling access for polypropylene bottles, jugs, jars, and tubs.
Learn More About Our Progress
Download The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition Annual ReportResults Achieved When We Work Together: The Road Back to “Widely Recyclable”
In 2020 the How2Recycle program downgraded polypropylene from “Widely Recyclable” to the “Check Locally” label. Under the banner of the newly formed Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, we worked with urgency and a common framework to achieve in a mere two years what could have taken a decade or more.
By pooling institutional expertise and experience across different industries, the Coalition simultaneously improved recycling access, provided community education, upgraded recycling facilities’ sorting capabilities, and raised awareness of polypropylene’s value in the circular economy.
That’s why today How2Recycle clearly identifies key polypropylene formats as “Widely Recyclable” across the United States. This is just one example of the results we are achieving by working together.
Advancing Polypropylene Recycling: Three Case Studies of Collective Impact
The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition is driving measurable progress in polypropylene recovery across the United States, empowering communities and facilities to capture more recyclable materials, reduce landfill waste, and strengthen markets for post-consumer plastics. These three case studies showcase the power of innovative technology, strategic collaboration, and community engagement to advance polypropylene recycling at scale.
Building on a History of Commitment to Recycling – Ocean County, New Jersey
Ocean County’s Northern Recycling Center transformed polypropylene recycling with the installation of an optical sorter supported by The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition. Capturing more than 850,000 pounds in 2023 alone, the county now diverts significantly more material from landfills and anticipates annual collections of 2.2 to 4.4 million pounds. This success aligns with New Jersey’s Recycled Content Law, reinforcing local markets for post-consumer plastics.
Technology to Improve Collection – Recology, Sonoma Marin, California
With the modernization of its Santa Rosa MRF in 2024, Recology Sonoma Marin integrated dedicated polypropylene recycling as part of a $35 million facility upgrade. Supported by a grant from The Recycling Partnership, the new technology enables efficient material recovery for the 170,000 customers it serves. This advancement supports California’s aggressive recycling goals and bolsters a circular supply chain for polypropylene recovery.
Capturing More Polypropylene — and Inviting the Community to Join In – Scott County, Iowa
The Waste Commission of Scott County boosted polypropylene capture sixfold with the help of an optical sorter funded by the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition. By combining technology upgrades with a robust community education campaign, the county achieved a dramatic increase in recyclable materials and expanded awareness across 25 counties. Messaging efforts included direct mailers, billboards, and virtual tours, inspiring a broader commitment to recycling.
