As much as I’d like to say that there is hope for 2025 to be the year the nation achieves zero waste, the reality is it’s tough if everyone doesn’t do their part. In the U.S., less than three out of four households have access to recycling programs. Single-family homes are more likely to have access than multi-family homes (85% vs. 37%). 

Here are some more facts to consider that demonstrate the difficulty Americans face in achieving zero waste.

  • Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Nebraska have the lowest recycling rates (less than 10%).
  • Cans, cardboard, lead-acid batteries, newspapers, and steel packaging are the most likely to be recycled.
  • Carpets, food waste, furniture, plastic bags/packaging/wrappers, and small appliances are the least likely to be recycled.
  • Eleven states, even those with high recycling rates, still fail to recycle more than 1 million tons each year. (California. Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia)
  • Just over 40% of broken or unused electronics are recycled properly.
  • Only 59% of households with access to recycling do so.

What is it going to take to achieve zero waste in 2025? Recycle Nation knows it’s not just up to consumers. Local, state, and federal policies also need to improve. 


Understanding What Zero Waste Entails

The EPA defines zero waste as a situation where people send absolutely no waste to landfills or incinerators. This starts by preventing waste in the first place. Products are designed to last and are developed with no waste. Consumers use products until they are no longer viable and recycle or compost them when they’re beyond repair or reuse.


Tips for Consumers and Business Owners Looking to Achieve Zero Waste

Achieve zero waste by making careful purchases. If the item you want is made of recycled materials, you’ve already taken the first step towards creating zero waste.

Take your smartphone for example. When you purchase a phone, the manufacturer offers updates for a certain number of years. After that timespan passes, the updates and support ends. At that point, consumers risk not having security patches and iOS upgrades, which isn’t comforting. People will go buy the newest model, even though their phone still works perfectly and suits their needs. The lack of security patches is too risky for some. Explore some of the different software support commitments.

  • Apple – Five to six years
  • Asus – Two years
  • Google – Seven years starting with the Pixel 8
  • Motorola – Two to five years
  • Nokia – Two to three years
  • OnePlus/OPPO – Four to five years
  • Samsung – Five to seven years
  • Sony – Two to three years
  • TCL – Two years
  • Vivo – Three years for newer models
  • Xiaomi – Two years
  • ZTE – None


Purchase phones that guarantee updates for the longest possible time. That ensures you won’t need to upgrade your phone before it’s truly necessary. Work with companies that offer takeback programs that recycle your old phone and offer a discount on the latest model. The same is true of any electronic device.

Consumers need to reduce food waste. Purchase only the food you need. If it’s going to go bad before you eat it, don’t buy it. Frozen vegetables last longer than fresh vegetables, but you now have a plastic bag to dispose of. Look for plastic film recycling programs.

Reduce waste by purchasing fresh vegetables and using reusable produce bags. Blanch and freeze them in reusable containers or bags. Compost any trimmings. If you have the space and interest in backyard chickens, they eat fruit and vegetable scraps and provide manure you can use in your gardens to grow your own produce, which also helps the environment.

Read your district’s recycling rules. While a product might be marked recyclable, there are no guarantees your district takes those items. Policies vary from one town to the next. Until there are federal requirements for every city and town to follow, states, counties, cities, and towns must set their own policies based on their budgets.


Tips for Districts Looking to Achieve Zero Waste

Select board members and other government officials need to tackle zero waste by setting clear, comprehensive recycling policies in their districts. Once you have programs in place to recycle everything consumers and business owners have for waste, make sure there are training and educational programs available for the public. 

One of the most common excuses for failure to recycle is that people don’t understand if something is or isn’t recyclable. Everyone needs to be able to access clear information that is easy to follow.

Making recycling hours convenient for people is also important. If you have a recycling facility that’s only open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, it’s going to be very hard for residents who work all week and can only get to a facility on the weekend.


How to Get Districts and Consumers to Work Together

Those are ways zero waste can be achieved in 2025. How do you get governments and Americans to work together? One way is by making Federal laws. Imagine the frustration of a person living in California where recycling rates are high who moves to Montana. That former California resident is used to recycling, but Montana doesn’t have programs available. It’s frustrating. 

If there were federal laws that lead to recycling policies being the same in every state, zero waste would be easier to achieve. Are there any laws in the works?


The Circular Economy for Plastics and Recycling Innovation Act of 2024

This bill was introduced in September 2024. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is where it currently is. While this won’t achieve zero waste in terms of plastics, the goal is to reach 50% plastics recycling rates in the U.S. by 2030. 

To do this, advanced recycling technologies become the focus of improving recycling rates in every state. Increased dependency on the use of recycled plastic in new products is the other goal. It’s a start, but it’s not a perfect solution.


The No Time to Waste Act

The No Time to Waste Act was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in late 2023. The goal of this bill is to create a law that mitigates food loss on farms and finds ways to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. Grants would be made available to Tribal, state, and local governments to address food waste and loss.

While zero waste is unlikely to be achieved in 2025, it’s clear that the federal government is aiming towards 2030 as a deadline for reducing waste and having working recycling programs in place across the U.S.

It’s too soon to tell, however, as a new administration takes place and focuses on other goals in the immediate future. You can start making changes that benefit the world though. When you purchase items for your home or business, consider the impact that purchase has. 

If you order from an online retailer, is there an option to reduce environmental impact by having shipments sent together in less packaging? How will you dispose of the broken printer, computer, TV, or monitor you’re replacing? Are there options for recycling all of that packaging that arrives with your new item? 

You need to know where to recycle everything from plastics and cardboard to food and electronics. Stop throwing things out.  Recycle them correctly using Recycle Nation’s search feature that helps you find the nearest recycling center for the items you no longer need.