A new report from the US Recycling Leadership Council (RLC), which was launched in 2020 by the Consumer Brands Association (CBA, www.consumerbrandsassociation.org), calls on the US federal government to establish policies to advance residential recycling systems. Proposals from the RLC, which is a coalition between industry and NGOs, include improved data collection, system standardisation and the development of financing tools to help states meet national recycling goals.

The report “Blueprint for America’s recycling system” outlines how the government can modernise and standardise recycling across the US. Currently, there is a lack of standardised, quantifiable data, leaving policymakers in the dark, the report states. “Recycling in the US is at a breaking point due to thousands of disparate systems, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the massive fractures in its foundation,” asserts Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of CBA. “The time is now to solve this crisis, and Americans overwhelmingly want federal leadership.”

The RLC represents organisations from consumer-facing industries, packaging companies, NGOs and recycling organisations. Members of the RLC include the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI, Reston, Virginia / USA; www.pmmi.org) and the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA, Annapolis, Maryland / USA; www.flexpack.org).

The CBA says the RLC blueprint has the backing of several bipartisan members of Congress. Commenting on the document, US senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island) said, “We need to reduce plastic waste and vastly improve our recycling systems, including financial support and transparency policies. I’m glad to see some of the most important players come together to make a plan, including steps to collect better data and establish new financing tools.”

US senator Dan Sullivan (Alaska) commented, “Effective recycling is an essential part of combating the global crisis of plastic waste and marine debris. I commend the RLC’s year-long effort to bring diverse stakeholders together and propose new ideas.”

The blueprint suggests that policy action focuses on the following:

• Creating clear data collection and reporting requirements to further understand the problem and inform the creation of an improved recycling system.
• Developing national standards and definitions across the nation’s nearly 10,000 recycling systems, providing clear guidance to states and municipalities and taking confusion out of the process for consumers and packaging producers.
• Supporting states with targeted infrastructure investments, tax credits and grants. Funding should be dedicated to the systems themselves, for example by enhancing recycling infrastructure or educating consumers.