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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[...]

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[...]

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[...]

Companies Try Boosting Demand for Recycled Plastics

This article was originally published by Bloomberg on Nov. 29, 2017. The economics of plastic recycling have suddenly been upended, thanks to a Chinese import ban and cheap U.S. oil used to make virgin plastic. That’s made recycled plastic suddenly more expensive than virgin plastic and made it mo[...]

Waste360: Corporations to Revitalize Plastics Market

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has a new plan to increase demand for recyclable plastics in North America, and with help from The Recycling Partnership, it is calling upon manufacturers and retailers to make it work. Companies joining the Recycle Demand Champions initiativewill instruct[...]

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. [...]

Global Plastics Treaty’s Call for Data Should Guide Action

by Keefe Harrison, CEO, The Recycling Partnership As the UN member states wrap up the first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee session of the Global Plastics Treaty, the pressure to deliver a legally binding instrument that will reverse the current global plastics waste emergency remains high.[...]

Changing the Path Forward for Plastic

This article first appeared in GreenBiz By Juan Villar Mallagray & Samu Salo & Li Tu In response to the crisis, consumers and government regulators are putting pressure on companies to change the way they do business. Consumers want brands to use sustainable materials and some are willi[...]

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[...]

US Recyclers Begin Road to Recovery After China Bans Recyclables

originally appeared in the EPOCH TIMES / October 11 / by CATHY HE NEW YORK — In 2017 recycling facilities across the United States received some unwelcome news: China, the world’s largest importer of scrap material, will stop accepting their waste. GDB International, a New Jersey-based recyclin[...]

$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[...]

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.[...]

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[...]

Navigating the Pathway to Circularity for Product Protection

An exploration of circular solutions for foam packaging Packaging plays a critical role in protecting products — including everything from food to household goods – from being harmed during their journey from conveyor belts to household shelves. But to reach a truly circular economy in the U[...]

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’[...]

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 [...]

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[...]

China’s ban on scrap imports a boon to US recycling plants

This story originally appeared in The Washington Post By Mary Esch | AP May 18 ALBANY, N.Y. — The halt on China’s imports of wastepaper and plastic that has disrupted U.S. recycling programs has also spurred investment in American plants that process recyclables. U.S. paper mills are expan[...]

Can Recycling Bounce Back?

This article originally appeared on CityLab.com. NICOLE JAVORSKY Times have been hard for U.S. recycling since China tightened its contamination standards, and local programs are trying to adjust. “This facility is our version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” That’s how Eileen Ka[...]

Article: Setting Up A Systems Solution

This article, co-written by The Recycling Partnership’s VP of Industry Collaboration Dylan de Thomas and Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Senior Manager Trina Matta, was originally published in Resource Recycling on June 29, 2017. Late last year, The Recycling Partnership and Sustainabl[...]

PepsiCo Joins The Recycling Partnership

National nonprofit The Recycling Partnership is pleased to announce its newest funding partner, the global food and beverage leader, PepsiCo. The organizations have agreed to collaborate on an ambitious cross-sector approach to increasing recycling rates across America. PepsiCo’s collaborat[...]

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[...]

Feet on the Street Begins September 13 in Norcross

The City of Norcross and The Recycling Partnership launch citywide cart-tagging campaign to dramatically improve curbside residential recycling, part of a $15,000 grant NORCROSS (GWINNETT COUNTY), GA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2021) – On Monday, September 13, 2021, the City of Norcross will begin checkin[...]

Unlocking System Change through PET Recycling  

By: Adam Gendell, Circular Ventures Director   Plastic packaging circularity may seem like a daunting endeavor, but it’s possible. Just take an in-depth look at PET packaging, which is an example of how we can build on successes to support an effective plastic recycling system.    Polyethylene[...]

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[...]

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[...]

Blog: Moving at the Speed of Partnership

By Keefe Harrison (previously posted by Keefe on LinkedIn) My Recycling Partnership team has a term to describe units of time in the world of our company – it’s “Partnership Years” – sort of like “Dog Years” I suppose, only better, in that a lot of work and progress gets packed into a [...]

The Hidden Cost of Landfilling vs. Recycling

Recently, some  have suggested that disposing of materials in landfills is a better option than recycling and that we don’t really have a waste problem at all. We disagree.    Why Landfills Are Not the Answer  Here’s why we can’t just landfill our way out of the vast consumption and d[...]

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[...]

Recycling Carts Coming to 95,000 Homes

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) today joined officials from Henrico, Hanover and Goochland counties, and national partners to celebrate the first deliveries of new recycling carts to 95,000 households. The 95-gallon carts are being delivered to all single-family homes in Henr[...]

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[...]

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[...]

Colgate-Palmolive Company Accepts ‘All In On Recycling’ Challenge

Leading global consumer products company joins efforts to make recycling easier for 25 million families across the country FALLS CHURCH, VA (November 15, 2018) – Global consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive Company is joining The Recycling Partnership and PepsiCo Foundation’s recycling cha[...]

Hacking Recycling: Ideas to Boost Your Program

Chances are, you’ve heard of the concept of a “life hack.” The term, made popular online over the last decade, describes simple strategies and techniques that a person can use to manage time and daily activities in a more efficient way. It might now be time for materials recovery stakeholders [...]

The Partnership Names New Executive Committee

The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit that applies corporate funding to improve recycling efforts in communities across the country, has named its new executive committee. The committee will be led by incoming Chairwoman Sarah Dearman, sustainable packaging program director, Coca-Cola Nort[...]

Harrison: “Target Tackles ‘Branded Trash'”

This op-ed by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison originally appeared in TriplePundit on July 7, 2017. Target Tackles “Branded Trash” With New Recycling Initiatives As the U.S. government pulls back from environmental advances, as evidenced by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, corporation[...]

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 [...]

Why the business world should be far more involved with community recycling

RP Siegel / originally appeared in Greenbiz.com The materials collection and processing supply chain necessary to support a shift to the circular economy is only as strong as its weakest link. That means businesses planning for that transition must forge stronger links with the municipal and commun[...]

Harmonized Recycling

by Jill Martin, Recycling Today Simplified communication decreases contamination and confusion among residents while increasing the capture rate for curbside recyclables. Imagine trying to take a train, subway or bus system across a city where the signage, names and colors of the routes are inconsis[...]

Press Release: City Announces Blue Recycling Bins Coming This Fall

PITTSBURGH, PA (Oct. 26, 2020) – Mayor William Peduto today announced the plans to distribute 32-gallon blue curbside recycling bins to City residents as part of the Bureau of Environmental Services’ first phase bin distribution. The first phase will cover the neighborhoods of Garfield, High[...]

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[...]

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[...]

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[...]

Waste360: Corporations to Revitalize Plastics Market

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has a new plan to increase demand for recyclable plastics in North America, and with help from The Recycling Partnership, it is calling upon manufacturers and retailers to make it work. Companies joining the Recycle Demand Champions initiativewill instruct[...]

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. [...]

Changing the Path Forward for Plastic

This article first appeared in GreenBiz By Juan Villar Mallagray & Samu Salo & Li Tu In response to the crisis, consumers and government regulators are putting pressure on companies to change the way they do business. Consumers want brands to use sustainable materials and some are willi[...]

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[...]

US Recyclers Begin Road to Recovery After China Bans Recyclables

originally appeared in the EPOCH TIMES / October 11 / by CATHY HE NEW YORK — In 2017 recycling facilities across the United States received some unwelcome news: China, the world’s largest importer of scrap material, will stop accepting their waste. GDB International, a New Jersey-based recyclin[...]

$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[...]

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[...]

China’s ban on scrap imports a boon to US recycling plants

This story originally appeared in The Washington Post By Mary Esch | AP May 18 ALBANY, N.Y. — The halt on China’s imports of wastepaper and plastic that has disrupted U.S. recycling programs has also spurred investment in American plants that process recyclables. U.S. paper mills are expan[...]

Can Recycling Bounce Back?

This article originally appeared on CityLab.com. NICOLE JAVORSKY Times have been hard for U.S. recycling since China tightened its contamination standards, and local programs are trying to adjust. “This facility is our version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” That’s how Eileen Ka[...]

PepsiCo Joins The Recycling Partnership

National nonprofit The Recycling Partnership is pleased to announce its newest funding partner, the global food and beverage leader, PepsiCo. The organizations have agreed to collaborate on an ambitious cross-sector approach to increasing recycling rates across America. PepsiCo’s collaborat[...]

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[...]

Feet on the Street Begins September 13 in Norcross

The City of Norcross and The Recycling Partnership launch citywide cart-tagging campaign to dramatically improve curbside residential recycling, part of a $15,000 grant NORCROSS (GWINNETT COUNTY), GA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2021) – On Monday, September 13, 2021, the City of Norcross will begin checkin[...]

Unlocking System Change through PET Recycling  

By: Adam Gendell, Circular Ventures Director   Plastic packaging circularity may seem like a daunting endeavor, but it’s possible. Just take an in-depth look at PET packaging, which is an example of how we can build on successes to support an effective plastic recycling system.    Polyethylene[...]

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[...]

Blog: Moving at the Speed of Partnership

By Keefe Harrison (previously posted by Keefe on LinkedIn) My Recycling Partnership team has a term to describe units of time in the world of our company – it’s “Partnership Years” – sort of like “Dog Years” I suppose, only better, in that a lot of work and progress gets packed into a [...]

Recycling Carts Coming to 95,000 Homes

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) today joined officials from Henrico, Hanover and Goochland counties, and national partners to celebrate the first deliveries of new recycling carts to 95,000 households. The 95-gallon carts are being delivered to all single-family homes in Henr[...]

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[...]

Colgate-Palmolive Company Accepts ‘All In On Recycling’ Challenge

Leading global consumer products company joins efforts to make recycling easier for 25 million families across the country FALLS CHURCH, VA (November 15, 2018) – Global consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive Company is joining The Recycling Partnership and PepsiCo Foundation’s recycling cha[...]

The Partnership Names New Executive Committee

The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit that applies corporate funding to improve recycling efforts in communities across the country, has named its new executive committee. The committee will be led by incoming Chairwoman Sarah Dearman, sustainable packaging program director, Coca-Cola Nort[...]

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 [...]

Why the business world should be far more involved with community recycling

RP Siegel / originally appeared in Greenbiz.com The materials collection and processing supply chain necessary to support a shift to the circular economy is only as strong as its weakest link. That means businesses planning for that transition must forge stronger links with the municipal and commun[...]

Harmonized Recycling

by Jill Martin, Recycling Today Simplified communication decreases contamination and confusion among residents while increasing the capture rate for curbside recyclables. Imagine trying to take a train, subway or bus system across a city where the signage, names and colors of the routes are inconsis[...]

Press Release: City Announces Blue Recycling Bins Coming This Fall

PITTSBURGH, PA (Oct. 26, 2020) – Mayor William Peduto today announced the plans to distribute 32-gallon blue curbside recycling bins to City residents as part of the Bureau of Environmental Services’ first phase bin distribution. The first phase will cover the neighborhoods of Garfield, High[...]

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[...]

Companies Try Boosting Demand for Recycled Plastics

This article was originally published by Bloomberg on Nov. 29, 2017. The economics of plastic recycling have suddenly been upended, thanks to a Chinese import ban and cheap U.S. oil used to make virgin plastic. That’s made recycled plastic suddenly more expensive than virgin plastic and made it mo[...]

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[...]

Navigating the Pathway to Circularity for Product Protection

An exploration of circular solutions for foam packaging Packaging plays a critical role in protecting products — including everything from food to household goods – from being harmed during their journey from conveyor belts to household shelves. But to reach a truly circular economy in the U[...]

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’[...]

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 [...]

Article: Setting Up A Systems Solution

This article, co-written by The Recycling Partnership’s VP of Industry Collaboration Dylan de Thomas and Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Senior Manager Trina Matta, was originally published in Resource Recycling on June 29, 2017. Late last year, The Recycling Partnership and Sustainabl[...]

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[...]

Hacking Recycling: Ideas to Boost Your Program

Chances are, you’ve heard of the concept of a “life hack.” The term, made popular online over the last decade, describes simple strategies and techniques that a person can use to manage time and daily activities in a more efficient way. It might now be time for materials recovery stakeholders [...]

Harrison: “Target Tackles ‘Branded Trash'”

This op-ed by Partnership CEO Keefe Harrison originally appeared in TriplePundit on July 7, 2017. Target Tackles “Branded Trash” With New Recycling Initiatives As the U.S. government pulls back from environmental advances, as evidenced by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, corporation[...]

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[...]