SWEEP Newsletter #26: Landfills Gain and Recycling Slips: Will EPR Fill the Gap?

Landfills Take More Waste as Their Numbers Shrink and Recycling Declines

The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) counted 1,412 active U.S. landfills in 2025, about 10% fewer than in 2010. Preliminary EREF data presented at RCon shows that landfills’ share of municipal solid waste rose from 67% in 2016 to 71% in 2023. Over the same period, waste-to-energy fell from 8% to 6% and recycling fell from 19% to 17%. Total MSW managed grew 10% from 2010 to 2023, or 3% per person.

Other key findings include:

• Composting and anaerobic digestion grew, but anaerobic digestion still handles only 1% of MSW.
• California and Maryland had the largest recycling declines among high-tonnage states. Virginia and Washington had the largest gains.

Key takeaway: Disposal is concentrating in fewer, larger sites while recycling’s share slips. Each remaining landfill becomes more important to regional capacity, and local governments face longer hauls and less bargaining power.

Sources: Waste Dive

Momentum Builds for a National EPR Framework

A new RTI analysis finds that a single federal packaging EPR framework could cut local government waste management costs by 49% to 53% and roughly halve producer compliance costs compared with a state-by-state patchwork. At RCon, SC Johnson CEO Fisk Johnson said voluntary corporate efforts have hit an economic wall and that EPR policy is what will move recycling forward. States are also aligning on their own: Minnesota’s draft EPR needs assessment recommends adopting the national responsible end market standard the Circular Action Alliance is developing, with public comments open through Nov. 13.

Key takeaway: Producers and states are both pushing for harmonized EPR rules. Local governments in EPR states should expect common verification standards across state lines; those in non-EPR states should watch federal proposals after the November elections.

From SWEEP: EPR: What Is It? What Is It Good For? As momentum builds for a national EPR framework, this SWEEP primer explains how packaging EPR models range from municipal reimbursement to full producer control, and why rural communities, haulers and local governments all need a seat at the table.

Sources: Waste Dive (WWF analysis)  · 
Resource Recycling  · 
Waste Dive (Minnesota)

Brands Pay to Prove Film Recycling Works

The US Flexible Film Initiative, a brand-funded nonprofit, signed its first contracts with California MRF operators Valemi and GreenWaste and film reclaimers EFS Plastics and Merlin Plastics. USFFI has moved more than 3 million pounds of flexible packaging from California MRFs to reclaimers, with offtake agreements for up to eight loads per month, driven by SB 54 recyclability requirements. The Flexible Film Recycling Alliance has also launched pilots aimed at getting more film from warehouses and retail backrooms into the recycling stream.

Key takeaway: Film recycling becomes viable when operational subsidies cover the gap for MRFs and reclaimers, the need for which should decline as the industry matures.

Sources: Waste Dive  · 
Waste360

Who Gets to Recycle Depends on Where the MRF Is

At the Northeast Recycling Council’s annual conference, University at Buffalo researchers presented a study of 84,000 census tracts. They found that households generate about the same amount of plastic packaging waste regardless of income, but communities closer to MRFs recycle more, and those communities are 30% to 55% wealthier. WasteZero estimates about 15% of U.S. communities are recycling deserts, mostly in the South. Ramsey County, Minnesota, tiered its recycling grants using the CDC’s environmental justice index, raising some communities’ funding from $1,500 to more than $20,000.

Key takeaway: Facility siting and funding formulas shape participation as much as education does.

Sources: Resource Recycling  · 
Northeast Recycling Council