The US Isn’t Recycling Nearly Enough Cardboard and Paper

Over the past few decades, the perception of recycling in the US has gone downhill. While the vast majority of Americans still believe recycling is positive for the environment, an increasing number of them are losing confidence in recycling programs’ actual effectiveness. Plastic recycling in particular is criticized for failing to process a critical mass of materials.

But plastic isn’t the only problem. As e-commerce habits evolve and package deliveries climb, US paper and cardboard recycling is struggling to keep up. A recent study from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that, out of the 110 million tons of paper and cardboard waste managed in 2019, 62 million tons (56%) ended up in landfills.