US plastic recycling rate continued to decline, according to data from the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The data showed that the amount of plastics recycled in the US fell by almost 6% from 2015 to 2017.
EPA said that 3.14 million tons of plastics were recycled in 2015, from a total of 34.5 million tons of plastics produced that year. This indicates a 9.1% recycling rate. About 5.35 tons (15.5%) of them were burned, while another 26 million tons (75.4%) ended up in landfills.
The US increased plastic production to 35.37 million tons in 2017, EPA data showed. However, the recycling rate fell to 8.4%, as the recycling total declined to 2.96 million tons. On the other hand, incineration and landfilling increased to to 5.59 million tons and 26.82 million tons, respectively.
The report, however, only covers data from 2015 to 2017 and does not account the current market conditions. Steve Russell, vice president of the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council said that recently more brand owners are committed to incorporate recycled content in their products and packaging, in line with the increased public demand for more environmentally-friendly materials and their awareness on plastic recycling.
