U.S. Household Access to Carton Recycling Witnessed Tremendous Expansion

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics published by the Carton Council of North America states that carton recycling programs witnessed significant expansion during the first month of the current year.

As per the Council, nearly 62% of the US households have access to food and beverage carton recycling through local recycling programs. It must be noted that the report released during early-January this year had reported 60% access rate. Since then, additional 2.5 million households have newly gained access to carton recycling. The access rate has jumped higher significantly when considering the fact that only 18% of the households had access to carton recycling in 2009, when Carton Council of North America was originally formed. This essentially means that access rate has skyrocketed by 244% since 2009.

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According to Carton Council, more number of communities has added cartons to their recycling program during 2017. For instance, San Francisco and Grand Rapids added recycling of food and beverage cartons. Out of the 100 largest communities in the US, 82 have access to carton recycling as of 2017. The recycling service covers nearly 13,300 communities spread across 49 different states, the Council noted.

The end markets for recycled cartons have witnessed tremendous expansion during the past several years. For instance, high demand has prompted Iowa-based The Rewall Co. to double its manufacturing capacity during 2017.

Innovative technology has contributed to increased levels of recycling. The introduction of artificial intelligence to the recycling industry has maximized carton recycling rates. For example, the facilities which recently installed robots to sort cartons from other materials in the waste stream have reported increased efficiency and operating levels.

The collaboration with other industry partners has helped to elevate awareness levels and improve access rates. Notably, the recent collaborations with Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and The Recycling Partnership have contributed immensely to the growth in carton recycling rates. Additionally, the Council had also launched a national digital consumer education campaign in February last year.

The Carton Council stated that it will continue to build on the momentum and success of last year in order to spread awareness and expand access to carton recycling in 2018. Further, the Council will continue to explore industry collaborations to expand end market solutions.