Recyclable Material Wholesalers NAICS 423930

Jul 11, 2026 - Report: Better Coordination, Investment Needed to Strengthen US Recycling

• Resource Recycling reports that The Recycling Partnership's 2026 State of Recycling report says the US has the building blocks for a strong residential recycling system, but sustained investment and better alignment are needed to improve results. The report says packaging must be recyclable, all households need access, residents must participate, facilities must process accepted material effectively, and end markets must be strong. About 25% of US homes, mostly in rural areas, still lack access to recycling, while public confidence has declined since 2022. Extended producer responsibility laws could help standardize packaging, fund infrastructure upgrades, and improve collection, but the report says progress has been too slow. Falling virgin PET prices and companies retreating from recycled-content goals are weakening demand, creating oversupply, and undermining recycling economics.
• Film recycling pilot programs are helping the hard-to-recycle sector prepare for California’s packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) law, which could ban nonrecyclable packaging by 2032, according to Packaging Dive. Industry groups, including CalFFLex and the US Flexible Film Initiative (USFFI), are working with material recovery facilities (MRFs), reprocessors, and end markets to expand film recycling infrastructure. USFFI has helped move 1.5 million pounds of film from California to end markets nationwide since December 2025, potentially lifting the state’s film recycling rate by about 1 percentage point. Speakers said film recyclers face difficult economics, limited infrastructure, and recent plant closures, but EPR fees, post-consumer resin mandates, and better packaging design could help build demand. Producers may reduce future compliance costs by designing flexible packaging that incorporates recycled content and supports scalable recycling.

• Recent White House revisions to Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper are expected to have little direct impact on the waste management and recycling industries, according to Resource Recycling. The changes, effective through 2027, reduce tariffs on certain equipment, create a 10% preferential rate for imports made mostly with US metals, and lower the threshold for products considered entirely American-made. The Recycled Materials Association said the revisions do not appear to cover many, if any, products used by recyclers, so the industry should see no significant effect. Earlier tariff changes provided greater clarity and lower costs for some imported recycling equipment, including high-throughput shredders and optical sorters, which are often made in Europe. Still, the latest revisions offer only minimal additional relief.
• Researchers with the circular-economy nonprofit Light House found that construction sites offer a major opportunity to divert plastic waste, according to Waste Dive. After a 14-month pilot across eight Vancouver construction sites, researchers collected about 38,000 kilograms of plastic, of which roughly 77% was deemed recyclable. The study, one of the first in North America to track construction plastics through the waste stream, identified films, wraps, and other LDPE materials as the most viable for recycling. Success depended on convenient, clearly labeled bins, crew participation, and supervision, while contamination averaged about 21%. Challenges include limited recycling infrastructure, market demand, and handling requirements for construction-derived plastics. Researchers recommend incentives such as landfill bans, variable tipping fees, and procurement standards to boost recovery and end markets, while highlighting the potential to recycle materials into new construction products.