CLYNK

Sophie Leone • February 21, 2024

We are pleased to welcome CLYNK as new Sustaining Advisory Member to Northeast Recycling Council

Founded in Maine in 2005, CLYNK first laid its roots down well after Maine became the nation’s third bottle bill state. CLYNK recognized the need to make redemption far easier for the consumer while taking redemption out of the grocery store. Since then, they have grown and expanded into New York, Iowa, and in a matter of weeks, the state of Connecticut. With their unique technology and user-friendly experience, they have been able to amass ~500,000 consumer accounts processing over 2.5 billion containers through bottle and can redemption within these states.


Bottle bills have not been enacted in most states, which may leave many unfamiliar with what they are. A bottle bill is a law that allows you to turn in a can or bottle for money back. This bill holds producers responsible for recycling their product and incentivizes customers to make returns. The bottle bill has a long history that dates back to 1971 when Oregon became the first state to enact this law and has since expanded into a limited number of states.


CLYNK’s role in the bottle bill realm has become one of groundbreaking importance. Their platform has created an avenue that makes it easy for consumers to participate in recycling efforts with the bonus of reimbursement through your returns. In participating areas, consumers can bag their redeemable bottles and cans using recyclable CLYNK bags and then tag them with their personalized CLYNK tag. Once the bag reaches CLYNK they will scan the items and deposit your reimbursement accordingly into your account which is linked to you through your personalized tag. Alternatively, there is also the option to donate your reimbursement to a charity of your choosing through CLYNK.


This innovative bag drop platform is not only easy for consumers but also allows CLYNK to provide key data and measurable financial benefits to recyclers, beverage manufacturers, and retailers. They have been able to create a high efficiency cycle for can and bottle recycling that benefits everyone involved. In Oregon, where CLYNK helped OBRC establish Bag Drop, the state has achieved a redemption rate of 90%.


Their growth is helping to set a new standard for recycling in the United States. CLYNK customers have praised their efforts and accessibility, saying, “CLYNK makes it easy, and I like that I can control when I get my money back. It’s like a savings account in some ways.” Another consumer from Maine stated, “Great idea for business, environment, and everyone seems to win. This is a simple concept for consumers, suppliers, and producers that pick up all the pieces and the end product is returning the cash back so it can be spent over and over.”


 “We are very proud of what we’ve built at CLYNK, and we are committed to continuing to revolutionize consumer recycling for all stakeholders, with a focus on compelling consumer experiences,” said Matt Prindiville, CLYNK’s CEO. “CLYNK has achieved some considerable scale and momentum and believe our patented technology solutions represent the future of consumer recycling.”


NERC is pleased to welcome CLYNK to its team of Sustaining Advisory Members. We look forward to collaborations that will expand their technology.


For more information about CLYNK click here

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August 29, 2025
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Publishes 25 th Report Marking Six Years of Quarterly Data
By Recycled Materials Association July 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has opened the 2025 Emerging Professionals (EP) Program . Now, in its third year, the program provides professionals who are new to the field of recycling, sustainability, and environmental stewardship with discounted access to NERC’s Conference and Foundations Course, sponsored by their employer organization. EPs gain valuable connections with seasoned industry professionals and peers while engaging in discussions on current trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the industry. This program is designed for those with three or fewer years of experience. “This year, EPs also receive a discount to our Foundations of Sustainable Materials Management course (a live, instructor-led training) developed to provide the key building blocks for understanding the industry,” said Mariane Medeiros, Senior Project Manager at NERC. “It’s a great way to close the loop: gaining both a strong technical foundation and real-world connections in one experience.” Read and Learn More.
By Chaz Miller June 30, 2025
Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. On July 1, Oregon’s packaging and paper extended producer responsibility (EPR) program begins operating. This will be a first in our country. “Producers”, instead of local governments or private citizens, will be paying to recycle packages and paper products. Colorado’s program begins operating early in 2026. For years we have heard the theory of how packaging EPR will work. At last, we will get results. Five other states also have laws. Their programs should all be operating by 2030. None of the state laws have identical requirements. The Circular Action Alliance, the “producer responsibility organization” responsible for managing the program in most of those states, knows it has a lot on its plate. EPR laws are not new to the U.S. Thirty-two states already have laws that cover a wide variety of products such as electronics, paint, mattresses, batteries, etc. Those laws are relatively simple. Most cover one product. The producer group is a small number of companies. Goals and programs are focused and narrow. They are a mixed bag of success and failure. Packaging EPR is far more complex. The number of covered products is way higher. Thousands of companies are paying for these programs. Goals are challenging. Some are impossible to meet. In addition, local governments treat recycling as a normal service. Their residents will still call them if their recyclables aren’t picked up. It probably hasn’t helped that advocates tout EPR as the solution for recycling’s problems. We are told we will have more collection and better processing with higher recycling rates. Markets will improve and even stabilize. Some of this will happen, but not all. Collection and processing should go smoothly in Oregon. The state has high expectations for recycling. I have no doubt recycling will increase. Collection programs will blanket the state, giving more households the opportunity to recycle. I’m not sure, though, how much of an increase we will see. Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. Another challenge is the “responsible end market” requirements. You’ve probably seen pictures of overseas dumps created by unscrupulous or just naïve plastics “recyclers”. In response, Oregon and the other states are requiring sellers and end markets to prove they are “responsible”. They must provide information about who and where they are, how they operate, how much was actually recycled, and more. Recycling end markets pushed back. Paper and metals recyclers argue they shouldn’t be covered. They don’t cause those problems. As for plastics, the general manager of one of America’s largest plastics recycling companies said his company now spends time and money gathering data and filling out forms to prove they’re “responsible”. His virgin resin competitors don’t have to. Ironically, we now import more plastics for recycling than we export. Maybe those countries should impose similar requirements on their plastics recyclers. Colorado faces unique problems. The mountain state is large. Its population is concentrated on the I-25 corridor running north and south through Denver with low population density elsewhere. Recycling collection and processing is limited as are end markets. To make matters worse, slightly more than half of its households use “subscription” services for waste and recycling collection. Those services are funded by the households, not by taxpayers. EPR doesn’t have this experience in other countries. Colorado gets to blaze this trail. The second state to go live poses substantive challenges for producers. The good news for both states? Local governments that pay for recycling collection and processing will see most of those costs go away. Consumers are unlikely to see prices rise, for now. National companies will simply spread their costs among all 50 states. Local and regional producers, unfortunately, don’t have that advantage. As for improved markets, remember that recyclables are and always will be commodities subject to the ups and downs of the economy. I don’t see substantive changes in recycling markets unless the producer group’s members try to manipulate markets to their own advantage. 2025 saw new laws and changes to existing laws. Maryland and Washington became the sixth and seventh packaging EPR states. At the same time, California is rewriting its regulations and Maine significantly revised its law. Some of these changes narrowed EPR’s scope to the dismay of advocates. I’m a member of Maryland’s EPR Advisory Council. We’ve been meeting for a year, discussing the Needs Assessment and now our new law. We have our own unique set of challenges. We also have a big advantage. We can learn from Oregon’s and Colorado’s experiences. Tune in next year to learn how we are progressing. Read on Waste360.