Municipalities Use a Variety of Practices to Increase Recycling

Recycling coordinators with whom we spoke identified several key  practices being used to increase recycling in their cities. The three  practices they cited most frequently were making recycling convenient  and easy for their residents, offering financial incentives for recycling, and  conducting public education and outreach. In addition to these three key  practices, recycling coordinators and the recycling literature identified  other ways to increase recycling, such as targeting a wide range of  materials for recycling, extending recycling programs to the commercial  sector, mandating that residents recycle, and targeting multiunit dwellings  for recycling. Through recycling, residents  can produce less waste, use smaller garbage cans, and thus lower their  garbage collection bills. EPA Has Several Recycling Programs, but They Lack Performance Measures; Commerce Is Not Fully Meeting Its RCRA Recycling Requirement

Several EPA programs are designed to increase recycling and help the  agency achieve its 2008 national municipal solid waste recycling goal;  however, the programs lack performance measures and comprehensive  performance data to help determine their impact. However, the agency supports increased international trade in  recycled and recyclable materials as part of its general trade promotion  responsibilities. In 1994, EPA launched  WasteWise, one of the agency’s primary recycling programs. Commerce Is Taking No Actions to Stimulate the Development of Markets for Recycled Materials in the United States

While Commerce is taking some actions to stimulate international markets  for recycled materials, the agency is not taking any actions to stimulate  domestic markets and, therefore, is not fully meeting its responsibilities  under RCRA subtitle E. For example, Commerce is not identifying the  geographical location of existing or potential markets for recycled  materials or the economic and technical barriers to the use of recycled  materials in the United States. Stakeholders Identified a Number of Federal Policy Options That Could Help Municipalities Increase Recycling

Recycling stakeholders we interviewed identified various federal policy  options that they believe could help municipalities increase their recycling  rates. The three policy options cited most frequently as top priorities were  to establish a nationwide campaign to educate the public about recycling,  enact a federal bottle bill in which beverage containers may be returned  for money, and require producers to establish a system that consumers  can use to recycle their products. Other policy options for helping  municipalities to increase recycling include facilitating the sharing of  recycling best practices, expanding EPA research on the economic and  environmental benefits of recycling, providing additional grant money for  recycling projects, reducing or removing subsidies to industries that  extract virgin materials, and providing subsidies to the recycling industry. Although EPA has implemented several programs  at the national and regional levels to encourage recycling, their  effectiveness is unknown. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of this report were to (1) identify the key practices that  selected U.S. cities are using to increase recycling, (2) describe what the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of  Commerce (Commerce) are doing to encourage recycling nationwide, and  (3) identify federal policy options that stakeholders with recycling  expertise believe could help increase recycling. In addition, we interviewed  officials from federal, state, and local government; industry; and  nonprofits, as well as academics and consultants.
Why GAO Did This Study

Although recycling can generate environmental and economic benefits, the national recycling rate has increased only slightly since 2000, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While local governments have the primary role in operating recycling programs, EPA and the Department of Commerce (Commerce) have some legal responsibilities for encouraging recycling. GAO was asked to (1) identify key practices cities are using to increase recycling, (2) describe what EPA and Commerce are doing to encourage recycling, and (3) identify federal policy options that could help increase recycling. GAO interviewed recycling coordinators in 11 large cities about key practices and 13 additional recycling stakeholders about policy options. GAO selected both groups based on geographic representation and recycling expertise, among other factors.

What GAO Found

Recycling coordinators with whom we spoke in selected cities across the country identified several key practices they are using to increase recycling in their cities. The three practices they cited most frequently were (1) making recycling convenient and easy for their residents, (2) offering financial incentives for recycling, such as allowing residents who produce less waste through recycling to use smaller garbage cans and pay lower fees, and (3) conducting public education and outreach. In addition, both recycling coordinators and the recycling literature identified other ways to increase recycling, such as targeting a wide range of materials for recycling and extending recycling programs to the commercial sector. As a part of its Resource Conservation Challenge strategy, EPA operates several national and regional programs that are designed to increase recycling and help EPA achieve its national municipal solid waste recycling goal of 35 percent by 2008. One of EPA's principal national recycling programs, WasteWise, creates voluntary partnerships with groups, such as universities, states, and businesses, to help them increase their recycling. EPA also provides competitive grants to support projects designed to increase recycling. The impact of EPA's programs is unknown, however, because the programs lack performance measures and comprehensive data on program performance. Although Commerce is required under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to stimulate the development of markets for recycled materials, the agency is not currently taking any actions to do so in the United States. For example, Commerce is not identifying the location of markets for recycled materials, identifying economic and technical barriers to recycling, or encouraging the development of new uses for recycled materials in the United States. However, agency officials told GAO that Commerce supports increased international trade in recycled and recyclable materials as part of its general trade promotion responsibilities. The recycling stakeholders we interviewed identified various federal policy options that they believe could help municipalities increase their recycling rates. The three federal policy options cited most frequently were to (1) establish a nationwide campaign to educate the public about recycling, (2) enact a national "bottle bill" in which beverage containers may be returned for money, and (3) require manufacturers to establish systems that consumers can use to recycle their products. Other identified policy options included facilitating the sharing of recycling best practices among municipalities, expanding EPA research on the economic and environmental benefits of recycling, and providing additional grant money for recycling projects.