Why US Recycling is a Corporate Supply Chain Challenge

Despite a high level of public support for recycling in the US, a wide gap persists between intention and actual behaviour.

According to WM’s 2025 Recycling Report, while 77% of Americans say they recycle, the national material recycling rate is just 32.1%. This discrepancy poses a challenge for organisations seeking to integrate recycled content into their supply chains and meet sustainability targets.

The report, based on a national survey of over 1,100 consumers and behavioural research, suggests that a collaborative effort is needed to improve these figures.

"The 2025 WM Recycling Report shows us that to truly close the gap between intention and action, recycling providers, consumer packaged goods companies and municipalities need to meet people where they are and understand what influences them to recycle," explains Tara Hemmer, Chief Sustainability Officer at WM.

Tara adds that WM is investing in technology and education to help companies maintain their recycled content commitments and assist municipalities in increasing recycling access.

Corporate influence and consumer expectations

The report’s findings indicate that corporations have a substantial role to play in shifting consumer behaviour.

Most respondents notice when a business provides recycling for its customers, almost half state that a company’s sustainability goals are a strong factor in their purchasing decisions.

For procurement leaders this highlights a growing link between environmental policy and brand loyalty.

Six in 10 consumers say they are more likely to purchase from companies that include recycled content in their products. This sentiment creates a clear business case for using recycled materials, but it is coupled with a lack of consumer confidence.

Many Americans, especially older consumers, are not confident that plastics placed in recycling bins are processed correctly. Educating the public on the end-of-life journey of recycled materials could be crucial.

More than 80% of respondents would be more likely to recycle if they knew the materials were used to make new products, suggesting that transparency in the supply chain could directly impact material recovery rates.

Bridging the 'say-do' gap in recycling

Several barriers contribute to the gap between reported recycling habits and the lower official rates.

A key issue identified in the report is access, with 35% of non-recyclers stating they do not have recycling services available. For another quarter of respondents, the process is too difficult or inconvenient.

These infrastructural challenges create a bottleneck that individual enthusiasm cannot overcome.

The report details several common problems faced by consumers including:

• Infrequent kerbside collection schedules
• A lack of understanding of what can and cannot be recycled
• Recycling bins that fill up too quickly
• Limited access to recycling bins inside the home

Addressing these issues requires systemic investment.

Robert Little, Sustainability Strategy Lead for gTech at Google, says on LinkedIn: “This data is a clear signal that we must invest in better, more convenient infrastructure. And honestly, it's just more evidence and a huge tailwind for smart policies like EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility). The system is the bottleneck, not the consumer.”

Investing in infrastructure for a circular economy

To address these systemic issues and improve the supply of recycled materials, WM is making substantial capital investments.

The organisation is America’s largest recycler and plans to invest more than US$1.4bn between 2022 and 2026 to build new recycling facilities and upgrade existing ones.

These plans involve using automation and AI to capture more usable material and increase operational efficiency. Such advancements are vital for creating a more robust circular economy, where waste materials are consistently repurposed into new products.

Beyond its recycling operations, WM is a leader in the beneficial use of landfill gas. It operates a growing network of renewable natural gas plants and the most landfill gas-to-electricity facilities in the industry.

By investing in both material recovery and energy conversion, WM is working to extract more value from waste streams, providing a more integrated approach to resource management that could help companies secure the sustainable materials they need for the future.