Recycling is more than placing bottles, cans and paper in a bin at the curb; it’s a complex industrial system that affects how natural resources are extracted, how consumer products are designed and manufactured and then disposed of, and how a variety of wastes from homes and businesses are managed at their end of life. Key factors that have affected recycling over the last few years include a sluggish U.S. economy, rapid industrialization in Asia, and the changing collection infrastructures in the U.S., as well as demographic and lifestyle changes that affect where recycling systems are needed and how they are used.
Increasing recycling rates will require new approaches. Doing what we did for the last twenty years will not produce the results we seek in the coming twenty years. The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) has been building relationships within and between sectors in our coalition to develop and implement strategies that strengthen recycling’s changing infrastructure, while opening the communication channels between many diverse sectors. By opening dialogues and creating partnerships with various groups – recycling professionals, government decision makers, business leaders, consumers, the media – we are capitalizing on the internal strength of the coalition to continue to strategically advance recycling. In many cases, these conversations are happening for the first time.
Collaboration is Required to Increase Beverage Container Recycling Rates
How the Beverage Packaging Environment Council Is Different
Agreeing on the State of Beverage Container Recycling
Sharing the Research with the Recycling Community
What to Expect Next from BPEC
What to Expect Next from NRC