U.S. Recovered Plastics Tonnage Recorded Notable Decline

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest data released by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and the U.S. Plastics Pact suggests significant decline in volume of plastic recovered for recycling in the U.S in 2022, in comparison with 2021.

As per report, more than 5 billion pounds of postconsumer plastics were recovered for recycling in the country in 2022. This marks a decline of 1.4% or 71.2 million pounds upon comparison with 2021.

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The vast majority of these continued to stay in North America to be processed and remanufactured into new products. The North American reclaimers acquired 93.7% of plastic recovered for recycling in the US. The acquired volume by domestic reclaimers surged higher by 21.4 million pounds, despite dip in total recovered volumes, the data said.

Out of the over 5 billion pounds of plastic recovered in 2022, bottles accounted for 55.5% of the total. Non-Bottle rigids and Films accounted for 22.2% and 22.1% respectively, whereas Other Plastics constituted 0.2% of the total. The non-bottle rigid plastic volumes increased significantly by 40.8 million pounds.

Steve Alexander, president and CEO, APR stated that the data is an important benchmark for the industry, as the regional recyclers have been successful in keeping significant volumes of plastic out of landfills in 2022.