It’s no secret that plastic waste is a massive problem in the United States. Each year, we generate over 40 million tons of plastic waste—yet, according to a 2022 Greenpeace report, less than 6% of it is ever recycled into something new. Meanwhile, the demand for post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic is skyrocketing, with forecasts predicting it will double by 2032. If the demand exists, why aren’t we recycling more?
Overburdened Infrastructure – Underutilized Resources
One of the biggest barriers to solving the plastic problem isn’t just awareness or willingness—it’s infrastructure. Despite the clear need, large-scale and advanced recycling infrastructure projects are often delayed, underfunded, or altogether cancelled (as was recently the case for Erie’s International Recycling Group’s advanced materials recovery facility, or MRF). Smaller and more rural MRFs (which represent over two-thirds of America’s materials recovery infrastructure according to industry group, Resource Recycling) overwhelmingly sort manually hand-picking recyclables-and operate at less than 60% capacity on average. Ultimately, the value of recycled plastic is outweighed by the (rising) costs of sorting, labor, transportation, brokering, and processing.
On the subject of processing, even if your plastic waste is properly sorted and baled, our processing infrastructure is too overburdened to keep up. Our domestic PCR plastic processing capacity—to grind, clean, and re-extrude that waste into valuable manufacturing source material—is estimated to have the capacity to process only 20% of post-consumer PET, 10% of HDPE, and negligible quantities of other resins.
Transportation is a particular burden in this supply chain. A 2019 paper published by the International Journal of Engineering Sciences and Research Technology that evaluated recycling stream process flows estimated that in order to recycle 1.4 tons of polypropylene in the United States, we emit around 10 tons of CO2 just from transporting materials between facilities. The CO2 emissions reduction of recycling PP is still over three times lower than the production of virgin material, but the rising costs of trucking make these efforts economically untenable.
Recycling plastic, particularly post-consumer waste, is a deeply complex challenge that currently relies on intricate supply chains with many stakeholders. This cross-sectoral coordination is rarely streamlined, and the cost of participation almost universally outweighs the return, especially in America’s many small and rural communities.
New Paradigms in Plastic Recycling
But there is a smarter, more efficient path for reclaiming plastic: right-sized, automated, modular, and vertically-integrated plastic sorting and processing systems.
These systems offer a radical shift in how we think about recycling infrastructure—one that favors distributed processing and manufacturing and places an emphasis on generating valuable outputs at the point of generation. By installing smaller (but more frequent), intelligent recycling and processing units closer to where waste is generated (think commercial centers, manufacturing facilities, or neighborhoods), and by focusing on modular solutions that can adapt to those waste streams, we can significantly reduce the burdens of transportation and labor. Simultaneously, we can increase the consistency and value of PCR plastic through AI-driven sensing and capturing waste streams before the effects of entropy set in.
Advanced sorting, tracing, and processing technologies can enable this new economy for plastic waste. Focusing on plastic waste-streams and leveraging artificial intelligence allows lower-cost sensing technologies to autonomously sort waste streams more efficiently. Consolidating sorting and processing into single facilities eliminates costly and wasteful intermediary steps and enables tracing from waste to product, with obvious benefits to manufacturers that struggle to find high-quality PCR plastic compatible with their current manufacturing processes.
A Greener Future
By shifting from a bloated, centralized model to a scaled and focused network of intelligent micro-recyclers, we unlock new business models that are not only more sustainable but also financially viable. Ultimately, the future of plastic recycling won’t be won with more trucks or bigger factories—it’ll be won with smarter, leaner, and more data-driven technology.
Author Bio
Georgia Crowther is a robotics engineer with experience as a founding member of several high-tech startups and is the founder and CEO of Reclamation Factory. Her personal experience struggling to find diversion streams for post-industrial plastic waste and source recycled plastic for advanced manufacturing has driven her passion for finding recycling solutions. Georgia has a Masters in Robotic Systems Development from Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.