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The Association of Plastic Recyclers and American Chemistry Council (collectively “ACC”) announced on December 17th the issuance of a report titled:
2017 United States National Postconsumer Plastic Bottle Recycling Report (“Report”)
The document constitutes the 28th annual National Postconsumer Plastic Bottle Recycling Report.
Key figures cited in the Report include:
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Plastic bottle recycling declined slightly in 2017
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3.6 percent to 2.8 billion pounds
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Overall recycling rate for plastic bottles is 29.3 percent
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Five-year compounded annual growth rate for plastic bottle recycling was 0.1 percent
The Report states that certain factors contributed to industry challenges. These included:
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Changing export market
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3.6 percent drop in material collected for recycling
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Ongoing increases in single-stream collection resulting in an increase in contamination of recyclables
Exports of HDPE bottles is stated to have decreased by 23 percent from 193 million pounds to 140 million pounds. Collection of polypropylene is stated to have fallen 15.2 percent to 31.1 million pounds. PET and HDPE bottles are stated to constitute 97 percent of the United States market for plastic bottles.
A copy of the report can be found here.
