US Packaging is Evolving. The Recycling System Isn’t Ready.

The material mix in the US recycling stream is becoming lighter, more varied and more operationally complex to manage, according to the second installment of the 2026 State of Recycling report from The Recycling Partnership. With lighter-weight packaging substrates becoming more prevalent – due to lightweighting efforts as well as shifting consumer patterns – the US system must evolve, the report authors said. The Recycling Partnership created the 2026 State of Recycling Report using data from more than 9,000 recycling programs serving 97% of the US population. For the first time, the group is releasing the report in installments, each focusing on a specific aspect of the system. 

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