EPA Report Estimates $36-$42 Billion Needed to Modernize U.S. Recycling

The Facts -

  • The EPA report estimates $36-42 billion needed to modernize U.S. recycling.
  • The report identifies major issues: low collection rates and market demand.
  • Investment focuses on recycling infrastructure for packaging and organic waste.


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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently published a comprehensive report titled:

An Assessment of the U.S. Recycling System: Financial Estimates to Modernize Material Recovery Infrastructure.

Refer to EPA document 530-R-24-010.

This report emerged from a 2021 Congressional appropriations mandate, which tasked the EPA with:

…developing estimates of the infrastructure investment required to modernize the Material Recovery infrastructure…[and] provide estimates for the investment needed to ensure all citizens have recycling service access comparable to waste disposal.

The document outlines several key areas:

  • Necessary infrastructure investment estimates to update recycling systems.
  • Strategies for enhancing public recycling education.
  • Ensuring equal recycling access for all communities.

The EPA report references a 2020 United States Government Accountability Office publication identifying significant barriers to recycling enhancements, such as:

  • Contamination issues in recyclable materials.
  • Low collection rates for recyclables.
  • Insufficient market demand for recyclables.
  • Challenges in achieving profitability for commercial recycling ventures.
  • A lack of data to support recycling-related decisions.

Central to the report is evaluating the investments necessary to provide recycling services to all residents in a manner similar to trash services, using the United States' 2030 goal of achieving a 50% recycling rate as a benchmark for assessing progress.

The focus areas of this evaluation include:

  • Packaging and organic materials, which comprise 82% of municipal solid waste (MSW) and are critical for aligning recycling access with trash disposal access.
  • Established, scalable technologies to recycle these materials nationwide, including mechanical processes for common recyclables like metals and plastics, and biological processes for organics such as food and yard waste.

To determine financial estimates, the EPA applied the following methodology:

  • Evaluating the current state of recycling infrastructure in the U.S. and identifying necessary upgrades to match trash disposal access.
  • Using secondary sources and a comprehensive review of 125 documents published from 2015-2021 to estimate costs and improvements for the U.S. recycling system.
  • Engaging with recycling stakeholders and experts across the nation to validate findings and refine cost projections.

The report estimates a required investment between $36 billion and $42 billion to enhance curbside collection, drop-off points, and processing facilities by 2030.

A full version of the report is available for download here.

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