According to a recent study, the percentage of US adults that recycle their soda bottles and newspapers is 50%.
What is the average recycling rate in the US?
The US recycling rate is about 32%, according to the EPA. This means that about 1 out of 3 trash items in the US are recycled. However, this number varies from state to state. Some states have much higher recycling rates than others.
What material has the highest recycling rate in the US?
With an overall recycling rate of 88% in 2012, steel is the US’ most recycled material. More steel is recycled each year than aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic combined.
Steel is obtained mainly from products including cans, cars, appliances, and construction materials. Steel can be re-melted and reused over and over again. The reason steel is highly recycled is because there’s good money paid for steel. This means you can sell scrap steel easily and make a high-profit margin from steel that you may acquire for free. In 2021, the average Iron and steel scrap price in the US was $435 per tonne.