International- Recycling rates in US states could hit 75% if companies bear the costs, a study found.
- The policy, known as extended producer responsibility, is successful in Canada and Europe.
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Every now and again, I hear fellow Americans wonder whether they should move to Canada or Europe for the bennies — more-generous healthcare, cheaper universities, and paid family leave, for example.
As it turns out, Americans have reason to envy some Canadian provinces and European countries for their waste systems as well. Recycling rates are high there, and taxpayers don't cover the bill, unlike in the US.
British Columbia, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands all had recycling rates of 78% or higher in recent years when averaged across materials like paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, and plastic, according to an analysis published Thursday by The Recycling Partnership, a group dedicated to improving recycling across the US. Quebec and Portugal have recycling rates in the 60% range.
Meanwhile, the recycling rates in six US states are much lower. Washington and Connecticut delivered the highest score, at about 50%, while Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Florida all came in at 34% or below, the analysis found. The Recycling Partnership said it examined these states because they had the best available data.
So what explains the gap? The Canadian provinces and European countries have laws around what's called extended producer responsibility. Each program operates in different ways, but in general, EPR requires the companies that produce waste from bottles, packaging, and other materials to pay fees on those items. This, in turn, raises money for recycling and disposal. That revenue can also be used to expand recycling access to more people, improve infrastructure, and launch education campaigns.
"There's often spurious claims made about EPR, like it's just an ATM machine for brands or that it just charges dollars without improving the recycling system," Dylan de Thomas, the vice president of public policy and government affairs at The Recycling Partnership, told Insider. "But when we looked at each of these individual countries, we saw consistent improvement after EPR was adopted."
The Recycling Partnership compiled data on how much recycling rates improved in Canada and Europe under EPR and extrapolated that to six US states to estimate the impact. In most cases, recycling rates could get as high as 75%, de Thomas said.
The policy is gaining steam in the US, where municipal governments shoulder the costs of waste management, and the plastic-waste crisis regularly makes headlines.
Four states — California, Colorado, Maine, and Oregon — have enacted EPR laws. At least 11 others have either introduced legislation or plan to, according to a tally by The Recycling Partnership.
The law in Colorado last year got rare public endorsements from big business, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Walmart. They teamed up with environmental groups like Recycle Colorado, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Sierra Club.
Those companies have made promises to use more recycled materials in their packaging and reduce plastic waste but can't achieve those goals without a better recycling system in the US.