Commentary: America recycles every day

America Recycles Day and Plastics Recycling Week are reminders that reducing, reusing, repurposing and recycling materials improves our environment every day. This is especially important for materials like plastic that are essential and make our world better. Plastic reduces greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing food waste, makes the efficiency of electric vehicles possible, provides protection for healthcare workers and has lightweight properties that conserve energy throughout its lifecycle. Just because we experience benefits from plastic doesn’t mean we can forgo improving circular end-of-life options.

We need to work to increase recycling rates, both here in the United States and across the world. Events like America Recycles Day remind us that while consumers play an important role in increasing recycling, more work must be done by environmental stakeholders, industry and government to make that happen. We know that there are solutions available to meet our shared sustainability goals on recycling as well as specific actions we can take to get it done together.

First and foremost, we need accurate and up-to-date data on recycling rates in the U.S. The last time the Environmental Protection Agency updated numbers on recycling was in 2018, nearly six years ago. If we are truly committed to increasing recycling and protecting our environment, we need current data to understand the full picture, thus enabling us to determine if interventions have been successful. Recycling data should be provided on an annual basis and should include national data as well as state-specific information.

We must continue to bring public attention to the positive outcomes of recycling through education, an important focus as it encourages the public to act with environmental awareness.

Recycling needs to be easier and more accessible. Only half of U.S. households have automatic access to curbside recycling, and in multifamily dwellings only about 30-40 percent have access to recycling. For products that cannot be recycled curbside, access should be available through alternative channels like store or community drop-off locations.

We are reminded that recycling goes way beyond our households. In Washington, where laws on the books require public establishments to recycle, the commercial recycling rate is 7 percent. Mandatory commercial recycling should be increased, established and enforced so people can recycle whether they are at home, at work or away.

The recycling infrastructure in the United States needs major improvement. Simply put, recycling systems haven’t evolved with the incredible innovations in materials and products. Improved infrastructure will allow for more recyclable material to be collected and used in everyday products like electronics, water bottles and clothing. Our industry understands we have a role to play in funding improved infrastructure and has invested more than $8 billion since 2017 to improve recycling. This is why we support well-constructed extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs and the plastics industry supports attainable minimum recycled content requirements that establish guaranteed end markets for material and spur private investment.

Increasing recycling rates, improving sustainability and circularity and protecting our environment all require a global effort. We know we can’t achieve our common goals without collaboration, meaning the private sector, multiple levels of government and communities must work together. The spirit of collaboration is the message our industry will echo throughout the Global Plastics Treaty discussions in Kenya this week and one we will continue to support here in the U.S. Let’s work together towards real, impactful change for a cleaner and more sustainable environment.

Patrick Krieger is vice president of sustainability at the Plastics Industry Association, Washington.