Maine Has The Highest Recycling Rate In The U.S.
According to the findings of the report titled “50 States of Recycling,” Maine has an astoundingly high recycling rate of 72 percent. This may be because of the state’s popularity as a destination for nature tourism or its proximity to Canada, which recycles far more materials than the United States does (just so you know). In addition to these states, New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, , & Michigan round out the top ten.
Nine out of the ten states that have the best recycling rates for PET bottles plus aluminum cans have a “bottle bill” and an infrastructure for curbside recycling. PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate, which is a substance that can be recycled.
Aluminum cans are also recycled. The term “bottle bill” can also refer to a law that requires a deposit to be placed on containers or a mechanism that returns deposits (DRS).
According to the website BottleBill.org, a bottle bill “requires a minimum refundable deposit on beer, soft drink, & other beverage containers in order to assure a high percentage of recycling or reuse.” This deposit can be returned to the purchaser of the beverage container.
In addition, according to Sara Axelrod, head of sustainability at Ball Corporation, “eight of the top 10 recycling state have few of the highest garbage disposal costs on a per tonne basis.”
“In order to support a system that encourages genuine circularity, policymakers must invest in local infrastructure while also enacting environmentally responsible recycling& waste management policies,” such as deposit return systems (DRS), landfill bans, extended producer responsibility (EPR), or disposal costs.
In essence, the government agencies in these best-recycling states have a stronger hold on their recycling activities, and as a result, they are able to influence recycling behaviour among consumers as well as company owners.
The Rate Of Recycling Is The Lowest In The United States Overall In West Virginia.
New Mexico, Tennessee, Alaska the odd one out, regionally, Louisiana,Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Carolina, & West Virginia are the states that have the worst recycling rates in the United States. This can be determined by travelling along the southwesternmost border of the country in the United States. The final state in the round is West Virginia, which has a recycling rate of 2 percent.
On the other hand, the purpose of the report was not to single out individual states but rather to present an objective picture of our recycling system. It’s a snapshot that, according to Axelrod, proves that the recycling system in the United States is in need of some modifications.
According to her, “recycling rules and infrastructure substantially differ among states & municipalities; we do not have a consistent system to monitor the performance of recycling; & recycling as a whole had been neglected.”
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a lot of people have questions about what can be recycled and how,” When it came to recycling system, the United States as a whole does not share a single standard in any of its individual states.
The process of recycling was first developed in the 1950s & underwent some minor adjustments in the 1980s. It should not come as a surprise that there are disparities and shortcomings given the level of consumption that exists in the world today.
