Recycling Report Describes Recovery from 2020 Lows

At the 2023 ISRI Convention in Nashville, Nina Butler, CEO at Stina, reported results from the 2021 U.S. Post-consumer Plastic Recycling Data Report. According to Butler, recyclers processed over 5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic in the U.S. in 2021, an increase of 5.8% over 2020. Previously, recovery of recycled materials declined by 290 million lbs from 2019-2020.

The report breaks down increases in the total number of lbs recovered for bottles, non-bottle rigids, and films in 2021, compared with 2020. The recycling rate of both PET and HDPE bottles rose, as the increase in recovery for PET bottles was greater than the increase in resin sales, while the decrease in recovery for HDPE bottles was less than the drop in resin sales. PP bottle recovery also declined in terms of lbs recovered, while production increased, resulting in a recycling rate drop from 15.4% to 12.9%.

Recovery of non-bottle rigid plastic increased to 1.07 billion lbs, and recovery of post consumer film increased to 1.11 billon lbs. 

U.S. Exports of Post Consumer Plastic Remain at Reduced Levels

Exports of reclaimed bottles declined in 2021, with North American reclaimers acquiring 97.8%. Exports of non-bottle rigids increased slightly to 123.3 million lbs, still well below the 2014 peak of 467.8 million lbs, with North American reclaimers acquiring 88.5%.  Film exports also increased, to 187 million lbs, though down from 704.4 million pounds in 2016, with North American reclaimers acquiring 83.1%.

The report was sponsored by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the U.S. Plastic Pact, The Recycling Partnership, and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).