Public confidence and trust in recycling systems is on the decline. While 87% of Americans say recycling is important, only about 32% of household waste is recycled or composted, according to 2025 data. More Americans believe that recycling feels harder today than it did four years ago.
But from plastic bottles to cardboard boxes, recycling is important—and has an impact. Recycled materials are key to reducing the extraction of natural materials like timber and aluminum. Read more: What The Man Who Invented the Recycling Symbol Thinks Today Sustainability experts say recycling doesn’t have to be that hard.
Here are some of the biggest recycling mistakes people make—and what you should be doing instead. What is recyclable varies greatly depending on where you live. Seven states, including California, Maryland, and Maine, have taken steps to fix that by introducing Extended Producer Responsibility laws aimed at standardizing recycling practices statewide.
Until that becomes more widespread across the country, there’s a simple rule you can follow, experts say. While many plastic products have a recycling symbol with a number in the middle, it doesn’t always mean it can be tossed in the recycling bin. The label simply denotes what kind of plastic it is.
In fact, plastic is one the biggest sources of confusion when it comes to recycling. Most places only accept plastics 1 and 2—commonly used to make soda bottles or laundry detergent containers. Some places might accept plastics 4 and 5 (think a yogurt container or plastic straw.) “The rest are not really recyclable at all, and some are really bad to put into the recycling system in practice,” says Jennifer Russell, associate professor of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech.
Incorrect recycling can cause the machinery to break down, or contaminate the batch, degrading its value. Perhaps surprising to some, however, it turns out it is okay to recycle a greasy pizza box—as long as you eat the last slice. That’s because processing technologies have gotten better with time, and are now able to handle a small amount of residue.
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