US households 45% access to curbside recycling programmes

Forty-five percent of US households can now recycle cartons through their curbside recycling programmes and other recycling venues, thanks to a voluntary private and public collaboration that includes industry, recycling facilities and local governments.

The Carton Council of North America, a group of carton manufacturers united to deliver long-term collaborative solutions in order to divert valuable cartons from the landfill, said that a 45% access is an increase of 150% from 2009, when the Carton Council was formed and carton recycling access stood at just 18%.

In 2009, 21 million US households had access to carton recycling in 26 states. Now, 52.5m households in 45 states can recycle cartons.