Have you been following California’s pair of nesting Bald Eagles that had three chicks hatch in 2025? If so, you watched as Jackie ended up with a fishing line dangling out of her beak after eating some fish, which left her unable to feed her chicks until she got it dislodged from her throat. It […]

A British study found that paper and cardboard recycling rates decline by 40% during the winter. Why is that? Much of it comes down to contamination from snow and ice. The problems occur both in curbside collections and at recycling facilities. RecycleNation helps you take steps to prevent recycling from ending up in the trash. Winter’s […]

In 2018, Americans generated 35.7 million tons of plastic waste. Some plastics are recyclable, but not all of them are. Less than 10% of plastic items are properly recycled. HDPE (29.3%) and PET (29.1%) are the types of plastic with the highest recycling rates. Some people don’t recycle as they should due to confusing policies […]

In its first week, the new administration made several policy changes that may impact recycling programs across the nation. One of the biggest involved freezing funds for the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for at least 60 days. There’s also been talk about gutting the EPA. All of this has people […]

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 […]

Plastic has become essential to modern life. It’s durable and offers a level of versatility that makes it indispensable across multiple industries. However, with this type of convenience comes at least some costs. In the case of plastics, it’s the environmental impact of plastic disposal that weighs heavily on the industry. Recycling plastic is critical […]

When an item in your blue bin shouldn’t be in that bin, two things happen. First, improperly recycled items can damage the recycling equipment. Second, workers have to remove the incorrectly recycled items and move them to trash bins to be hauled to the landfill, which raises operating costs.Items that are typically accepted in blue […]

Recycling is a big deal. During the pandemic, it also became a big issue. Landfills and recycling centers were overloaded, sick, and couldn’t keep up with the decluttering, online ordering, and work-from-home changes that had residential bins and wheeled containers overflowing. As things returned to the new normal, new challenges appeared. People didn’t want to keep […]

About five pounds of waste are generated by Americans every day. In one year, more than 292 million tons of waste were generated, and only 94 million tons were recycled or composted. Some were burned for energy, but over 146 million tons ended up in landfills across the nation.You want to do your part, but […]

An estimated 600 million pounds of Halloween candy was handed out on October 31st. Each miniature or full-size candy is individually wrapped in a plastic wrapper. While that small wrapper may seem insignificant to you, add them all up. 600 million candy wrappers, plus the plastic bags they come in and the plastic bags some […]