ISRI praises Recycling Partnership municipal efforts

The Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) says efforts by the Recycling Partnership to invest in municipal recycling programs, summarized in The Recycling Partnership’s 2020 Impact Report, have helped “address challenges in the recycling stream,” resulting in “positive change.”

“Through the programs highlighted in this report that are successfully extending access to recycling programs and improving education, people across America are rediscovering recycling,” says Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “As people see the essential nature of recycling in their daily lives, more material will be entering the residential recycling stream with less contamination. These success stories of impact can be built upon in the months and years ahead to make an even bigger difference in communities.”

The report recaps how the Fall Church, Virginia-based The Recycling Partnership has invested some $90 million in an effort to assist more than 1,500 communities in the United States upgrade their recycling programs. The partnership is funded by a large base of corporations, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, ExxonMobil, Target, Amazon, Keurig-Dr. Pepper, Dow and Procter & Gamble.

The results showed the following impact, says ISRI:

• 700,000 households received new recycling carts;
• 115,500 tons of recyclable materials diverted into the recycling stream;
• 251,000 metric tons of carbon emissions prevented; and
• 77 million households reached.

“Working together to strengthen the U.S. residential recycling system through investment, innovation, and market demand initiatives, we have the ability working together to further strengthen recycling in communities across the country,” Wiener says. “ISRI, as the organization representing those who process recyclable materials, will continue to play a pivotal role moving these efforts forward.”