• Local Laws vs. Corporate Programs: Who Is Really Responsible for Plastic Bag Waste?

    October 24, 2025

    A startling 90% of plastic bags and other film, sacks, and wraps go to the trash. In 2018, approximately 4.2 million tons of plastic film and bags were generated, and only 420,000 tons were recycled. Instead, plastic bag waste ends up in landfills, where it takes an average of 20 years to break down.Thick plastic […]

  • Why Cutting and Shredding Paper Short Cuts Its Recycling Potential

    October 17, 2025

    You shred your paper and send it off with your curbside collections, figuring it will turn back into another paper product. That’s not always the case. Per the EPA, paper and paperboard generation reached 67.4 million tons in 2018. Only 68.2% of that paper was properly recycled. A total of 4.2 million tons went right to […]

  • 80 Best Recycling Blogs and Websites in 2025 (Waste Management)

    October 16, 2025

    ERI and RecycleNation are proud to be included in FeedSpot’s 80 Best Recycling Blogs you should read and follow in 2025. Here are the top 30 ranked recycling blogs, but follow the link to read the full article and see the complete list.1. Earth 911Blog https://earth911.com/ Earth911 believes humans can successfully reduce their impact by using […]

  • Eco-Friendly Halloween Party Decorations: Spooky Without the Waste

    October 3, 2025

    Halloween is a fun time of year, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to waste. A UK charity found that people generate over 2,200 tons of plastic waste from just their costumes and clothing. You also must consider that there is plastic waste from candy wrappers and the plastic bags they […]

  • From Trash to Treasure: Home Remodeling With Recycled Materials

    September 24, 2025

    Every year, every American throws away an average of five pounds of trash and sometimes recyclables. Of the 292.4 million tons thrown out in 2018, only 94 million tons were recycled or composted. It’s not enough, and part of the problem is that some items that aren’t easily recycled end up in the trash.Have you […]

  • Microplastics: Can Recycling Really Help Reduce Them?

    September 16, 2025

    Edward Carpenter discovered microplastics back in 1972, but they didn’t become known as microplastics for 32 years. A team led by Professor Richard Thompson studied the long-term accumulation of these tiny plastic particles in the oceans in 2004. Since then, microplastics have been of growing concern as they’re found in everything from the fish we […]

  • How Festivals Can Go Zero-Waste

    September 9, 2025

    We love festivals as much as anyone, but there is another side that people don’t think of. They create so much trash – over 53,000 tons each year. Coachella alone is estimated to have produced over 1,763 tons.Of the waste that’s produced, very little of it is recycled properly. Again, Coachella’s waste estimates show that […]

  • Recycling Clothes and Textile-Fiber Blends: The Frontier of Mixed Fabric Reuse

    August 27, 2025

    Earth.org reports that 11.3 million tons of textile waste are sent to landfills every year. The average person throws out 81.5 pounds of clothing each year. That’s just the U.S.Over 100 million tons of worldwide textile waste is trashed each year. That waste ends up in landfills around the world, equating to about one garbage […]

  • Combating Wishcycling: Green Living Hacks That Reduce Recycling Contamination

    August 18, 2025

    Wishcycling is a problem in the recycling industry, and it drives up costs and increases work for recycling professionals. A Republic Services study found that 73 out of 100 people believed they were recycling experts. Yet, 61% of them were unable to correctly choose items that were not recyclable.When you wishcycle, you recycle items that […]

  • Seasonal Recycling: How Extreme Weather Events Disrupt & Reshape Collection Systems

    August 6, 2025

    Recycling may seem like a modern household practice, but it goes back to the 1800s when people would patch worn clothing or take fabric scraps to make new things. Ragmen went from door to door collecting fabric scraps to use in paper manufacturing. During WWII, families were asked to donate their scrap metal, paper, rags, […]