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Americans looking to stretch their budgets are increasingly turning to thrift stores, and that shift could pay off in ways that go beyond cheaper fashion, as Retail Dive detailed . Growing interest in resale could also cut textile waste by keeping clothing in use longer before it ends up in the trash. What's happening? At a Northeast Recycling Council webinar, panelists described thrift stores as an important checkpoint before clothing becomes waste, according to Retail Dive. As secondhand shopping becomes more common, more garments have a chance to be reused, resold, repaired, or otherwise redirected instead of being thrown away. Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, said high prices, tariff worries, and broader economic uncertainty have made more consumers willing to thrift, as Retail Dive reported. Young consumers are a big part of that momentum. Cronin said roughly 64% of Gen Z shoppers check resale avenues before purchasing something new, according to Retail Dive. Meanwhile, Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, pointed to a ThredUp report cited by Retail Dive that estimated 14% growth in the U.S. secondhand apparel market in 2024 and a rise to $74 billion by 2029. Why does it matter? For budget-conscious households, secondhand shopping can mean major savings on basics such as jeans, jackets, and kids clothes along with the chance to find rare or high-value items at steep discounts. A big challenge with textile waste is that clothing is hard to sort and recycle. Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said recyclers often do not have the details they need to handle garments correctly, per Retail Dive. "We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment," Goodge explained at the summit, according to the outlet. The reach of secondhand clothing goes well beyond local thrift racks. Retail Dive reported that more than 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, and that a study from Full Cycle Resource revealed Guatemala imported 290 million pounds in 2023, reusing more than 91% of it. Even so, Stosch said many stores sell only about 10-50% of what they receive, with some of the remainder compressed for export under the "mixed rags" label, according to Retail Dive. Keeping clothes in circulation longer can reduce strain on landfills and lower demand for resource-intensive new production. Still, the clothes that don't make it aren't easy to deal with. Stosch said workers in countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia often sort clothing by hand, according to Retail Dive. What's being done? Possible solutions are coming from both researchers and policymakers. Goodge said that handheld near-infrared tools used with artificial intelligence or machine learning could speed up fiber identification, which may eventually make textile recycling more practical at scale, per Retail Dive. States are also stepping in, Retail Dive noted. In Massachusetts, textile disposal bans have already drawn more attention to clothing that cannot be resold. Stosch said receiving clean but slightly damaged clothing is workable for thrift stores, according to Retail Dive. The outlet reported that California is putting its textile extended producer responsibility law into effect, a move expected to expand donation, repair, and recycling options. Goodge concluded that repair has "huge potential" to cut into the problem, as Retail Dive reported . Read article on yahoolife.
Sustainable Generation (SG) is an industry leader in composting innovation. Their team brings together over 200+ years of collective experience, working together to deliver scalable systems and produce high-quality compost. SG ADVANCED COMPOSTING™ Technology has been rigorously vetted and received independent third-party validation. Their technology is designed to reduce risk, optimize operational outcomes, and exceed environmental benchmarks. At SG “performance isn't just efficiency – its environmental responsibility” and that shows in the work they do and the technology they produce. Sustainable Generation leads with a climate-start approach that allows them to perform at a high level in all aspects. Their composting technology impact can be seen in the >95% VOC reduction, validated in the field and certified by air distributors; stormwater protection, zero-contact cover design; GHG mitigation, reducing methane by 80% compared to organic waste going to landfill and more. They're committed to the industry in a multitude of ways, engaging with local and global stakeholders. SG continues to lead by example, share best practices, and contribute to policy development. NERC is excited to welcome Sustainable Generation to our ever-expanding organics management community. We look forward to supporting their mission rooted in climate resilience and the immensely impactful work they are doing. For more information on Sustainable Generation visit.
A resurgence of secondhand shopping, new sorting methods and policy initiatives are all poised to help shift the needle on textile waste, speakers at a NERC webinar said. Thrift stores are a first line of defense against textile waste, and changing attitudes about thrifting and resale could help shape recycling systems and divert more material from landfills in coming years, said speakers at the Northeast Recycling Council’s material reuse forum webinar on Tuesday. Secondhand clothing is playing a powerful role in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn influences how and when textiles end up in recycling streams, said executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards in Technology. A rising interest in thrifting, upcycling and clothing repair could help keep clothing in use longer, and when textiles are too worn out to wear, newer sorting technologies could help sort end-of-life textiles more effectively for better end markets, they said. Here’s a few takeaways from the webinar: Thrift stores: making landfill diversion look cool Thrifting is not a new concept, but Americans have become more and more receptive to thrifting in recent years due to a combination of rising expenses, tariff concerns and economic uncertainty. There’s also the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had more time to look through their closets for unwanted items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program in the Boston area. More Than Words uses its thrift stores as a key way to offer job training and provide stable jobs for the youth who participate in the program, she said. The organization used to sell used books, but a fresh wave of interest in secondhand shopping spurred by the pandemic prompted the nonprofit to switch to a thrift store model instead. “This was not only a crucial pivot for the environment and to keep more things out of the landfill, but also do well for our business and our young people too,” she said. The nonprofit’s thrift stores, called Boomerangs, offer a 98% margin compared to its previous 62% retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin expects that to continue in coming years. Gen Z shoppers are leading the trend, in part because reducing their environmental footprint is a core value for the demographic, she said. About 64% of shoppers in that age range look at resale options before buying new products, she said. Young shoppers are expected to continue influencing this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has collected and reused more than 2 billion pounds of clothing since its inception in 1997. Citing numbers from an annual resale report prepared by online thrift company ThredUp, she added that the U.S. secondhand apparel market grew 14% in 2024, and the market is anticipated to reach $74 billion by 2029. The next step: Labor-intensive export and recycling markets More Than Words and other thrift stores like it does its best to sell as many items as possible. But for items that can’t sell, the organization often partners with secondary buyers, such as wholesalers who have access to a broad range of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch said thrift stores and other secondhand stores typically sell between 10% and 50% of their items, and a “small amount’ ends up going in the trash — mostly soiled items not fit for wearing or using. Another portion gets classified as “mixed rags” and baled for export, where they are further sorted for more reuse, resale or recycling purposes, she said. Many of these bales end up in Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to go through the time-consuming process of hand sorting each piece to separate out the quality clothes for resale while setting aside lower-quality textiles for other uses. “It’s very, very labor intensive to do this. You stand for long hours and have to pick through all the right things,” she said. Because it takes so much time to sort these items correctly, “there’s a limit to how much textiles we can process this way,” she said. From there, many of the clothes destined for resale go to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. More than 1.5 billion people around the world rely on second-hand clothing, she said, especially as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a particularly strong secondhand import market, she said. A 2025 study from Full Cycle Resource noted that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores making up more than half of the industry. Complex streams, complex recycling options When clothing or textiles are too worn out or unfit to be worn again, and have already been downgraded to be used as rags or industrial cloth, recycling is one of the next best options. That’s when a new set of challenges kick in, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles are a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, in part because there are no set standards on how to handle the materials today, she said. Setting standards “would help scale up in efficiency in this system,” she added. Another problem: Textile sorting is largely done by hand, as opposed to other recycled materials that can quickly be sorted by a range of AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge said. One reason hand sorting is the norm is because it’s tough to tell exactly what a garment is made of. “We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment,” she said, but the tag inside might simply say it’s made of 95% rayon and 5% “other.” A particularly itchy tag might get cut out of the garment entirely. “We need to look at a more systematic and technological solution to this,” she said – and technology is catching up. Handheld near-infrared devices can give insight into a garment’s material makeup, and when paired with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be paired with hand sorting to guide garments into the right bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale solutions might be able to identify textiles while they’re on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick off specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is not as common as recycling systems for curbside materials, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A future of reuse, repair and policy change Legislation could make a difference in textile recycling initiatives in coming years, the speakers said. California’s extended producer responsibility for textiles law is in the process of being implemented, which will prompt more outlets for clothing donation, repair and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also on the hook to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have prompted both thrift stores and lawmakers to wonder what to do with textiles that aren’t fit for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that’s torn or missing buttons, as long as it’s clean: “If it’s clean, it can be made into something else.” There’s also more room for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it goes to a recycling center, speakers added. For example, community repair events are good ways to teach basic sewing skills and inspire people to make something new with old apparel, Goodge said. “We used to have some infrastructure in the U.S. for repair, and that has largely sort of gone away, because it’s really hard to keep that economically viable,” she said. Yet repair efforts “have a huge potential to keep a lot of these garments as garments.” Read on WasteDive.
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Americans looking to stretch their budgets are increasingly turning to thrift stores, and that shift could pay off in ways that go beyond cheaper fashion, as Retail Dive detailed . Growing interest in resale could also cut textile waste by keeping clothing in use longer before it ends up in the trash. What's happening? At a Northeast Recycling Council webinar, panelists described thrift stores as an important checkpoint before clothing becomes waste, according to Retail Dive. As secondhand shopping becomes more common, more garments have a chance to be reused, resold, repaired, or otherwise redirected instead of being thrown away. Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, said high prices, tariff worries, and broader economic uncertainty have made more consumers willing to thrift, as Retail Dive reported. Young consumers are a big part of that momentum. Cronin said roughly 64% of Gen Z shoppers check resale avenues before purchasing something new, according to Retail Dive. Meanwhile, Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, pointed to a ThredUp report cited by Retail Dive that estimated 14% growth in the U.S. secondhand apparel market in 2024 and a rise to $74 billion by 2029. Why does it matter? For budget-conscious households, secondhand shopping can mean major savings on basics such as jeans, jackets, and kids clothes along with the chance to find rare or high-value items at steep discounts. A big challenge with textile waste is that clothing is hard to sort and recycle. Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said recyclers often do not have the details they need to handle garments correctly, per Retail Dive. "We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment," Goodge explained at the summit, according to the outlet. The reach of secondhand clothing goes well beyond local thrift racks. Retail Dive reported that more than 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, and that a study from Full Cycle Resource revealed Guatemala imported 290 million pounds in 2023, reusing more than 91% of it. Even so, Stosch said many stores sell only about 10-50% of what they receive, with some of the remainder compressed for export under the "mixed rags" label, according to Retail Dive. Keeping clothes in circulation longer can reduce strain on landfills and lower demand for resource-intensive new production. Still, the clothes that don't make it aren't easy to deal with. Stosch said workers in countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia often sort clothing by hand, according to Retail Dive. What's being done? Possible solutions are coming from both researchers and policymakers. Goodge said that handheld near-infrared tools used with artificial intelligence or machine learning could speed up fiber identification, which may eventually make textile recycling more practical at scale, per Retail Dive. States are also stepping in, Retail Dive noted. In Massachusetts, textile disposal bans have already drawn more attention to clothing that cannot be resold. Stosch said receiving clean but slightly damaged clothing is workable for thrift stores, according to Retail Dive. The outlet reported that California is putting its textile extended producer responsibility law into effect, a move expected to expand donation, repair, and recycling options. Goodge concluded that repair has "huge potential" to cut into the problem, as Retail Dive reported . Read article on yahoolife.
A resurgence of secondhand shopping, new sorting methods and policy initiatives are all poised to help shift the needle on textile waste, speakers at a NERC webinar said. Thrift stores are a first line of defense against textile waste, and changing attitudes about thrifting and resale could help shape recycling systems and divert more material from landfills in coming years, said speakers at the Northeast Recycling Council’s material reuse forum webinar on Tuesday. Secondhand clothing is playing a powerful role in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn influences how and when textiles end up in recycling streams, said executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards in Technology. A rising interest in thrifting, upcycling and clothing repair could help keep clothing in use longer, and when textiles are too worn out to wear, newer sorting technologies could help sort end-of-life textiles more effectively for better end markets, they said. Here’s a few takeaways from the webinar: Thrift stores: making landfill diversion look cool Thrifting is not a new concept, but Americans have become more and more receptive to thrifting in recent years due to a combination of rising expenses, tariff concerns and economic uncertainty. There’s also the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had more time to look through their closets for unwanted items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program in the Boston area. More Than Words uses its thrift stores as a key way to offer job training and provide stable jobs for the youth who participate in the program, she said. The organization used to sell used books, but a fresh wave of interest in secondhand shopping spurred by the pandemic prompted the nonprofit to switch to a thrift store model instead. “This was not only a crucial pivot for the environment and to keep more things out of the landfill, but also do well for our business and our young people too,” she said. The nonprofit’s thrift stores, called Boomerangs, offer a 98% margin compared to its previous 62% retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin expects that to continue in coming years. Gen Z shoppers are leading the trend, in part because reducing their environmental footprint is a core value for the demographic, she said. About 64% of shoppers in that age range look at resale options before buying new products, she said. Young shoppers are expected to continue influencing this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has collected and reused more than 2 billion pounds of clothing since its inception in 1997. Citing numbers from an annual resale report prepared by online thrift company ThredUp, she added that the U.S. secondhand apparel market grew 14% in 2024, and the market is anticipated to reach $74 billion by 2029. The next step: Labor-intensive export and recycling markets More Than Words and other thrift stores like it does its best to sell as many items as possible. But for items that can’t sell, the organization often partners with secondary buyers, such as wholesalers who have access to a broad range of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch said thrift stores and other secondhand stores typically sell between 10% and 50% of their items, and a “small amount’ ends up going in the trash — mostly soiled items not fit for wearing or using. Another portion gets classified as “mixed rags” and baled for export, where they are further sorted for more reuse, resale or recycling purposes, she said. Many of these bales end up in Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to go through the time-consuming process of hand sorting each piece to separate out the quality clothes for resale while setting aside lower-quality textiles for other uses. “It’s very, very labor intensive to do this. You stand for long hours and have to pick through all the right things,” she said. Because it takes so much time to sort these items correctly, “there’s a limit to how much textiles we can process this way,” she said. From there, many of the clothes destined for resale go to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. More than 1.5 billion people around the world rely on second-hand clothing, she said, especially as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a particularly strong secondhand import market, she said. A 2025 study from Full Cycle Resource noted that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores making up more than half of the industry. Complex streams, complex recycling options When clothing or textiles are too worn out or unfit to be worn again, and have already been downgraded to be used as rags or industrial cloth, recycling is one of the next best options. That’s when a new set of challenges kick in, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles are a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, in part because there are no set standards on how to handle the materials today, she said. Setting standards “would help scale up in efficiency in this system,” she added. Another problem: Textile sorting is largely done by hand, as opposed to other recycled materials that can quickly be sorted by a range of AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge said. One reason hand sorting is the norm is because it’s tough to tell exactly what a garment is made of. “We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment,” she said, but the tag inside might simply say it’s made of 95% rayon and 5% “other.” A particularly itchy tag might get cut out of the garment entirely. “We need to look at a more systematic and technological solution to this,” she said – and technology is catching up. Handheld near-infrared devices can give insight into a garment’s material makeup, and when paired with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be paired with hand sorting to guide garments into the right bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale solutions might be able to identify textiles while they’re on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick off specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is not as common as recycling systems for curbside materials, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A future of reuse, repair and policy change Legislation could make a difference in textile recycling initiatives in coming years, the speakers said. California’s extended producer responsibility for textiles law is in the process of being implemented, which will prompt more outlets for clothing donation, repair and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also on the hook to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have prompted both thrift stores and lawmakers to wonder what to do with textiles that aren’t fit for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that’s torn or missing buttons, as long as it’s clean: “If it’s clean, it can be made into something else.” There’s also more room for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it goes to a recycling center, speakers added. For example, community repair events are good ways to teach basic sewing skills and inspire people to make something new with old apparel, Goodge said. “We used to have some infrastructure in the U.S. for repair, and that has largely sort of gone away, because it’s really hard to keep that economically viable,” she said. Yet repair efforts “have a huge potential to keep a lot of these garments as garments.” Read on WasteDive.
Thrift stores act as a frontline barrier against textile waste, and shifting consumer perspectives on thrifting and resale could help refine recycling systems and pull more material away from landfills in the years ahead, according to panelists at a Northeast Recycling Council material reuse forum webinar held on Tuesday. Executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards and Technology pointed out that secondhand clothing holds a strong position in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn shapes how and when textiles reach recycling streams. A rising enthusiasm for thrifting, upcycling, and clothing repair could extend the useful life of garments, and when textiles become too worn for wear, emerging sorting technologies could more efficiently handle end-of-life textiles to improve end markets, they noted. Thrift Stores: Making Landfill Diversion Attractive Thrifting is not a novel idea, but Americans have grown increasingly open to it in recent years due to a mix of rising costs, tariff worries, and economic instability, along with lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had extra time to sort through their closets for items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program based in the Boston area. More Than Words leverages its thrift stores as a primary means to deliver job training and secure stable employment for participating youth, she explained. The organization previously sold used books, but a surge in interest in secondhand shopping triggered by the pandemic led the nonprofit to adopt a thrift store model instead. This shift was not only vital for the environment and for keeping more items out of landfills, but also beneficial for the business and the young people involved, she said. The nonprofit's thrift stores, known as Boomerangs, achieve a 98% margin compared to the previous 62% margin from its retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin anticipates this trend will persist. Gen Z shoppers are driving this movement, partly because minimizing their environmental impact is a fundamental value for that group, she noted. About 64% of shoppers in that age bracket explore resale options before purchasing new items, she added. Young consumers are expected to keep shaping this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has gathered and reused over 2 billion pounds of clothing since its founding in 1997. Drawing on data from an annual resale report by online thrift company ThredUp, she noted that the U.S. secondhand apparel market expanded by 14% in 2024 and is projected to hit $74 billion by 2029. Labor-Intensive Export and Recycling Markets More Than Words and similar thrift stores strive to sell as many items as possible, but for unsellable goods, the organization frequently collaborates with secondary buyers such as wholesalers who have access to a wide array of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch noted that thrift stores and other secondhand retailers typically sell between 10% and 50% of their inventory, with a minor portion ending up in the trash, mainly soiled items unsuitable for wearing or use. Another share is categorized as mixed rags and baled for export, where it undergoes further sorting for reuse, resale, or recycling. Many of these bales are sent to Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to manually sort each piece to separate quality clothing for resale while diverting lower-quality textiles for other uses. Stosch described this process as extremely labor-intensive, requiring long hours of standing and sorting through items, and noted that there is a cap on how much textiles can be handled this way due to the time involved. From there, many clothes intended for resale are shipped to countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America. Over 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, she said, particularly as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a notably strong secondhand import market, she added. A 2025 study by Full Cycle Resource found that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores accounting for over half of the industry. Complex Streams, Complex Recycling Options When clothing or textiles are too worn or unfit for further wear and have already been downgraded to rags or industrial cloth, recycling becomes one of the next best options. This is where a fresh set of difficulties emerges, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles represent a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, partly because no established standards exist for handling these materials today, she said. Establishing standards would help boost efficiency in this system, she added. Another issue is that textile sorting is predominantly done manually, unlike other recycled materials that can be quickly sorted using various AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge noted. One reason manual sorting remains standard is the difficulty in determining a garment's exact composition. Goodge explained that knowing the fiber content is essential to know how to recycle a garment, but the tag inside might only state it is made of 95% rayon and 5% other, or an itchy tag might be completely removed. She emphasized the need for a more systematic and technological approach, and noted that technology is advancing. Handheld near-infrared devices can reveal a garment's material composition, and when combined with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be used alongside manual sorting to direct garments into appropriate bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale systems might identify textiles while on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick out specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is less common than curbside recycling systems, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A Future of Reuse, Repair, and Policy Change Legislation could drive changes in textile recycling efforts in the years ahead, the speakers said. California's extended producer responsibility for textiles law is being implemented, which will encourage more outlets for clothing donation, repair, and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also required to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have led both thrift stores and lawmakers to consider what to do with textiles that are not suitable for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that is torn or missing buttons, as long as it is clean, she noted, adding that if it is clean, it can be turned into something else. There is also potential for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it reaches a recycling center, speakers added. For instance, community repair events are effective for teaching basic sewing skills and inspiring people to create something new from old apparel, Goodge said. She noted that the U.S. once had some infrastructure for repair, but that has largely disappeared because it is difficult to keep economically viable, yet repair efforts have significant potential to keep many garments as garments. P Read on IndexBox.
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New report identifies leading state programs and opportunities to strengthen glass collection, recycling, and end-market development across the Northeast.
Aluminum, Clear Glass, and Natural HDPE See Significant Gains in Outbound Tons Marketed in 2025
NERC’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Commodity Values Survey Report for the period October - December 2025 showed a deceleration in the continued decline in the average commodity prices. The average value of all commodities decreased by 8.96% without residuals to $68.41 and by 12.75% with residuals to $52.49 as compared to last quarter. Single stream decreased by 7.87% without residuals and 9.82% with residuals, while dual stream / source separated decreased by 10.57% without residuals and 18.98% with residuals compared to last quarter. Dual stream MRFs did not decelerate as much as single stream MRFs but did see a higher average commodity price compared to single stream for both with and without residuals. The decrease seen in Steel cans, PET, Polypropylene, and Mixed plastics (#3-7) slowed as compared to last quarter, while the decrease remained consistent in OCC, Aluminum cans, Mixed paper, and Residue. Notably, average values for Natural HDPE, Colored HDPE, All other paper, and Brown glass containers reversed direction from last quarter (where they dropped in value) and saw an increase in value this quarter as compared to last quarter. Clear glass, Green glass, and 3-Mix glass containers, as well as Bulky rigids, reversed direction from last quarter (where they increased in value) and saw a decrease in value this quarter as compared to last quarter.
NERC Chronicle
Marylanders can now recycle their leftover paint with PaintCare ! PaintCare is a nonprofit organization that plans and operates paint stewardship programs in states that have passed the paint stewardship law. The Maryland PaintCare program launched on April 1, 2026, making it the thirteenth jurisdiction to pass paint stewardship legislation. With the addition of Maryland, PaintCare now serves one-third of the U.S. population. PaintCare operates a network of over 100 drop-off sites across the state where households and businesses can recycle their leftover paint at no additional cost. Most drop-off sites are located at local paint retailers, making it convenient for Marylanders to responsibly dispose of their leftover paint. To find a drop-off site near you, visit the drop-off site locator on PaintCare’s website. PaintCare offers a large volume pickup (LVP) service, which provides free pickups of 100 gallons or more of eligible paint products. Those with large quantities of paint are encouraged to use this service to responsibly dispose of leftover paint. Large volume pickups can be requested through the large volume pickup request form. The paint stewardship law requires a fee, called the PaintCare fee, to be added to the purchase price of new paint. The fee is based on container size and funds all aspects of the program. This includes paint collection and recycling, consumer education, and program administration. The PaintCare fee in Maryland is as follows:
2025 was not a good year for recycling markets. Prices went down for everything in your bin. The only real difference is how badly each material got hit and why. Let’s start with paper, the most important recyclable in terms of weight and volume. Old Corrugated Container (OCC, boxes) prices started rising in the spring of 2023, peaking for several months in the summer of 2024. A long slide then began and lasted for almost all of 2025. Prices for Residential Mixed Paper (RMP) did the same. Nationally, OCC is now at $46.88 per ton and RMP is $20.31 a ton. OCC went down by a third while RMP went down by half. The “good” news is that these prices have been lower in the last five years. RMP, after all, had a negative value early in 2020 and then for a few months in late 2022. (All prices in this article are national prices from RecyclingMarkets.net as of December 31). The 2023 rise and then fall of recycled paper prices was the result of increased capacity to use OCC and RMP as raw materials along with declining overall demand for boxes. New recycled content paper capacity started coming online in 2017, peaking in 2023 when five new mills opened. Those new mills, eager to build up supply lines, caused prices to go up. Existing capacity had no choice but to also pay more. At the same time, demand for new boxes was going down. In fact, box demand has been going down for four years. Something had to give. In 2025, nine existing paper mills announced they would be closing. Old, more expensive, and less efficient to operate, they couldn’t compete with the new mills. All four plastic resins lost value but the impact varied by resin. Natural HDPE, (mostly milk jugs) lost a third of its value. Polypropylene (mostly dairy products) went down by 40 percent. Color HDPE (consumer products such as detergent and shampoo) went down by 48 percent and PET beverage bottles went down by two thirds. Natural HDPE is 46.81 cents a pound. Even at the lower price, this resin remains in a good price range. PET and polypropylene are both 5.38 cents a pound. Recycled PET rose steadily from the summer of 2023 to the summer of 2024. Then it declined equally steadily until it reached a record low of 4.19 cents in early October of this year. Cheap recycled resin imports, too much domestic virgin PET resin and lower summer beverage demand gave prices nowhere to go but down. Recycled PET resin imports are now subject to tariffs, which may be responsible for its recent increase. Nonetheless, its price remains in the doldrums. Polypropylene generally has a low price except when new capacity is coming online and building up capacity. For 46 of the 72 months since January 2020, its price has been less than a dime a pound. For 17 months, it’s been at its current not very good price or less. Color HDPE is 2.81 cents a pound. This resin depends on construction markets because the color can’t be taken out of the resin. New housing starts have been in decline for four years. It also set a record low price in 2025. Aluminum and steel cans are recycling market’s happy place. Their prices went down by 9.3 and 8.7 percent. Aluminum cans have a national average price of 78.75 cents while steel cans go for $158.75 a ton. Over the last few years, the aluminum industry smartly expanded into non-alcoholic beverages such as water and fruit juices. Those new uses keep demand up. After sliding last year, steel can prices stabilized. As for glass, it’s price rarely changes. Clear glass bottles go for $38.56 a ton, brown for $27.19 and green for $10.31. Those prices all rose slightly in the spring of 2023. Mixed glass from single stream curbside collection has a “negative tipping fee” of $25.31 a ton. In other words, the MRF pays the end market to buy it. That price became slightly more negative this year. The glass industry has been in decline for some time, a victim of lighter weight aluminum cans and plastic bottles. In addition, Americans are drinking less alcohol. That’s the biggest user of glass bottles. Our beleaguered economy is hurting recycling markets. Recyclables are just raw materials looking for a buyer. Those buyers are purchasing managers making a bet on how much raw materials they will need for their companies’ products. This can be, say, aluminum cans, boxes to ship those empty cans to beverage companies or boxes to deliver filled cans to retail outlets. When buyers are optimistic, they buy more. In 2025, they were gloomy. Prices of all of these recyclables have been hurt by declining unit sales of consumer products and the resulting decline in box demand. We are in a “ K-shaped” economic recovery from the pandemic. This means the recovery’s impact varied by economic status. Wealthy households now account for half of consumer spending on goods and services. They spend more on “services” such as trips and entertainment than on goods. Lower income households, however, are squeezed between paying for necessities such as housing, health care, insurance and food before everything else. They are pinching their nickels and looking for bargains. Simply stated, due to the K-shaped recovery, sales are down and we need fewer packages and shipping boxes. So what will happen in 2026? The loss of so much older paper capacity is bringing demand and supply back into a better balance. Look for prices to rebound a bit. Plastic prices will remain soft barring a reversal of the K-shaped recovery. PET prices, have the most potential if beverage demand returns. Color HDPE, will remain in the doldrums until new housing construction increases. Natural HDPE will stay where it is or go up a bit. Polypropylene will probably stay where it is. As for glass, change isn’t likely. I realize that’s not optimistic. Given the projected rise in health, insurance and energy costs this year, Americans will still be pinching pennies. Box production will decline as unit sales fall. Our K-shaped economy needs to become a rising economic tide lifting all boats. Recyclables, afterall, are commodities subject to the economy’s ups and downs. When our economy truly rebounds, recycling markets will thrive again. Read on Waste360.
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.
Member Spotlights
Sustainable Generation (SG) is an industry leader in composting innovation. Their team brings together over 200+ years of collective experience, working together to deliver scalable systems and produce high-quality compost. SG ADVANCED COMPOSTING™ Technology has been rigorously vetted and received independent third-party validation. Their technology is designed to reduce risk, optimize operational outcomes, and exceed environmental benchmarks. At SG “performance isn't just efficiency – its environmental responsibility” and that shows in the work they do and the technology they produce. Sustainable Generation leads with a climate-start approach that allows them to perform at a high level in all aspects. Their composting technology impact can be seen in the >95% VOC reduction, validated in the field and certified by air distributors; stormwater protection, zero-contact cover design; GHG mitigation, reducing methane by 80% compared to organic waste going to landfill and more. They're committed to the industry in a multitude of ways, engaging with local and global stakeholders. SG continues to lead by example, share best practices, and contribute to policy development. NERC is excited to welcome Sustainable Generation to our ever-expanding organics management community. We look forward to supporting their mission rooted in climate resilience and the immensely impactful work they are doing. For more information on Sustainable Generation visit.
Rowan University, located in Glassboro New Jersey, was founded in 1923 and has since evolved into a public research institution that is ranked among the top 100 in the nation. As a fast-growing institution, Rowan is committed to high-quality affordable education. Rowan offers over 100 bachelor's programs and has 15 colleges and schools for students to specialize in their degrees. Rowan also has multiple institutes and center specializing in a plethora of multiple areas of study. One such institute is its Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute (AMMI) where cutting edge science and engineering is occurring to improve upon materials and the processes with which we make, utilize, and reuse them. AMMI was founded by Dr. Joe Stanzione, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rowan. Dr. Stanzione recently received a two-year New Jersey DEP grant which would expand the university's glass recycling effort. The goal of this two-year project is to “grow the recently established Glass Education, Research, and Recirculation Program (GERRP) that is a partnership between Rowan's Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute (AMMI) and Bottle Underground.” GERRP works to recirculate waste glass and connect end-users on Rowans' campus and the surrounding local economy to the supply. “With its rich history in innovative glass science and revolutionary glass manufacturing, it makes sense to explore, implement, and grow game-changing glass recirculation strategies in Southern New Jersey, strategies that we hope can be emulated regionally and adopted globally,” states Joe Stanzione. NERC is excited to welcome Rowan University and the Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute to our growing academic community. We look forward to supporting their efforts in the glass industry. For more information on the Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute (AMMI) at Rowan University visit.
Founded by Cynthia Andela, Andela Products is a leader in Glass Recycling. Since its inception, Andela Products has expanded into designing complete systems to pulverize, clean and screen post-consumer waste glass. Andela uses cost-effective systems to transform waste glass into usable, high-value materials. Andela provides multiple applications such as a Pulverizer, Crusher, Laminated Glass, CleanGlass Cleaup Systems, and Single Stream Recycling. The variety in systems allows Andela to reach a diverse network of businesses and expand their reach. In addition to equipment, Andela has a detailed library of resources and safety information on the recycled glass market. Providing the community, and those in the industry, with details on glassphalt, sand and aggregates, glass sand as soil amendments, PCR, best practices and much more. Andela features testimonials on their websites, showcasing the prestige and easy operational use of their equipment by customers. With some customers stating, “We are incredibly satisfied with the GP-MegaMini from Andela Products — it is efficient, reliable, and its performance has exceeded our expectations” and “We appreciate the ease of ordering wear parts and value the attention and service we receive from Andela Products, it’s a true partnership”. NERC is excited to welcome Andela Products into our growing glass community. We look forward to supporting an organization committed to innovation and advancing technology while promoting education and best practices. For more information on Andela Products visit.
