Popular Articles
Single Stream Recycling
What is single-stream recycling?
Single-stream recycling is a system in which all recyclables, including newspaper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, junk mail, etc., are placed in a single bin or cart for recycling. These recyclables are collected by a single truck and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted into various commodity streams for sale to markets, where it is processed into feedstock which can be used in the manufacture of new products.
Bottled Water
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In 2018, Americans bought more than 70 billion plastic water bottles of one gallon or less. 3 out of 4 of them ended up in a landfill or incinerator. Hundreds of millions end up as litter on roads and beaches or in streams and other waterways. In turn, taxpayers pay hundreds of millions of dollars each year for disposal and litter cleanup. |
Bottle Bills
The Container Recycling Institute is one of the country's foremost advocates of beverage container deposit legislation (commonly known as bottle bills). Beverage containers make up a large portion of litter in the United States, and deposit laws are known for achieving a high recycling rate for beverage containers and reducing litter where other recycling systems have failed. Did you know that states with bottle bills have a beverage container recycling rate of around 60%, while non-deposit states only reach about 24%?
Recycling and Jobs
Facts About Beverage Container Recycling and Jobs
Recycling advocates have long been reporting on the significant jobs benefits of diversion over disposal. Some have focused on the jobs potential in recovering a particular product, such as tires or electronics; some have considered the jobs impacts of recovering a particular material, such as plastics or precious metals; and still others have looked at the jobs benefits of a particular recovery method, such as curbside recycling or composting.
Extended Producer Responsibility: A Primer
By Pat Franklin
Executive Director
Container Recycling Institute
Presented on November 18, 1997, at the Take it Back! '97 Producer Responsibility Forum
"The responsibility, that the waste generated during the production processes could be taken care of in a proper way, from an environmental and resource-saving point of view, should primarily be of the manufacturer. Before the manufacturing of a product is commenced it should be known how the waste which is a result of the production process should be treated, as well as how the product should be taken care of when discarded.
Zero Waste
Setting Our Sights on Zero Beverage Container Waste
Millions of consumers who recycle every day think that because they recycle their bottles and cans, everyone else is recycling too. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Americans waste (landfill, incinerate, or litter) twice as many beverage containers as we recycle.
In 2006, more than 138 billion beverage bottles and cans were not recycled. Nationwide, that’s about 460 per capita— up from 300 per capita just a decade ago. This trend continued in 2010, with more than 153 billion beverage bottles and cans not recycled; at 495 units wasted per capita! In the four years that passed between 2006 and 2010, the percentage of beverage bottles and cans not recycled increased by 10.9%.
Packaging
Publications
Evaluating End-of-Life Beverage Container Management Systems for California This study, which was undertaken to help the government of California improve its beverage container deposit program, compares several recycling systems within California and around the world, including selected deposit-refund programs. Recommendations to improve California's recycling system indicate best practices that can be applied to many recycling systems.
CRI Comments on Natural Logic’s White Paper on EPR for Packaging
Natural Logic recently produced a white paper for the Coca Cola Company that summarizes an industry policy agenda for the next generation of packaging waste management stressing the principle of extended producer responsibility or “EPR.” CRI examines the paper and analyzes some flaws in its approach.
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