Dive Brief:
- According to The Recycling Partnership's new annual report, the nonprofit has done work in more than 250 communities that affected 19 million households since its start in 2014.
- The placement of more than 395,000 carts during that time has helped divert an estimated 57,500 tons of material and 164,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
- Working with a variety of major corporate and industry funding partners, the organization has reportedly helped catalyze more than $27 million in recycling infrastructure so far.
Dive Insight:
As shown by the report, The Recycling Partnership's reach and influence have expanded quickly during its few years of operation. During 2016 their work spanned from New Mexico to Maine and many states in between. Following a recent announcement requesting proposals for 2017, that footprint can be expected to grow even further.
Within the report a study from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition is cited that found the majority of U.S. residents have access to curbside recycling, but only 53% have it provided automatically. At the same time, single-stream is becoming the most prevalent form of material processing around the country. This opens up more opportunities for The Recycling Partnership to continue that expansion and help provide the necessary education to reduce the contamination increases that often come with this switch.
At a time when some analysts see a lack of advancement in solid waste infrastructure as a key reason for stagnant national diversion rates, the potential for investment from organizations like The Recycling Partnership and the Closed Loop Fund may play a larger role in filling that gap.
