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Current State and Potential for Increasing Plastics Recycling in the U.S.

Plastics are a relatively new man�made material that provides vast material benefits throughout their useful lifespan. However, their end of life disposal currently leaves much to be desired. The U.S. EPA estimates that 30 million tons (16.8% according to the EPA estimate of MSW and 8% according to the BioCycle/Columbia national survey) of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the US annually is in the form of plastics.1 Of this amount only 7% is recovered for recycling , mostly in the form of polyethylene, and roughly 10% is combusted in waste�to�energy (WTE) facilities to generate electricity. The remainder of plastic wastes are landfilled, which is clearly a loss of non�renewable, fossilbased resources. Also, plastics litter in some cases poses a threat to human health and also threatens other ecosystems. For example, there is an estimated 100 million tons of plastic litter in the oceans, with millions more tons added each year.