Building American Recycling on Japan's Foundation
- Irleen Kaur
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Irleen Kaur
Over countless decades of public awareness campaigns and educational outreach, the United States continues to struggle with making its recycling system effective. As concerns surrounding overconsumption grow, it is crucial that the United States starts taking steps to improve this lacking system.
Basics of American Recycling
Recycling operates in three steps in the United States, as outlined by the EPA:
Collection: Recyclable materials are generated by a consumer or business and then collected by a private hauler or government entity.
Processing: The materials are transported by the collector to a processing facility, such as a materials recovery facility or paper processor. At the processing facility, the recyclables are sorted, cleaned of contaminants, and prepared for transport to a milling facility or directly to a manufacturing facility. Some commodities may require more processing for additional sorting and decontamination. For example, glass and plastic are often sent to glass beneficiation plants and plastics reclaimers, respectively, where they are processed into mill-ready forms.
Remanufacturing: After all necessary processing is completed, recyclables are made into new products at recycling plants or other facilities, such as paper mills or bottle manufacturing facilities.
Recycling helps limit waste sent to landfills, lower the demand for raw materials, as well as reduce carbon emissions. In 2018, it was estimated that paper and paperboard recycling has saved 155 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (removing 33 million cars off roads in a year). However, the success of this system depends on proper sorting by consumers and contamination-free collection.
What’s Wrong with American Recycling?
The United States’ approach to recycling has not been updated since the enactment of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976. This act established the framework for proper waste management and propagated four factors of legitimate recycling for producers to follow. Despite these regulations, many facilities engage in “sham recycling”, or the illegitimate recycling of hazardous materials, to avoid proper management of hazardous materials. In addition, the RCRA provides no federal mandate to manage recyclable materials being thrown away by households. Without federal standards, 76% of recyclables are lost to trash in homes, where they contribute to groundwater contamination and air pollution in landfills.
Landfills can pollute surface water and groundwater resources through the production of leachate. Leachate is a liquid that contains toxic elements, chemicals, and heavy metals formed when water filters through waste in a landfill. In addition, landfills can emit dust and gasses produced by the decay of organic waste by microorganisms, causing air pollution. Every recyclable that ends up in a landfill is actively contributing to this pollution rather than being repurposed as a new product.
Similarly, recycling contamination is a large issue faced within the recycling infrastructure. This largely occurs when recyclables are soiled with food or liquid or when non-recyclable items are put in with recyclables. Once contaminated, these recyclables become trash, heavily affecting the efficiency and turn-around rate of recycling. Large loads of recyclables could be denied by facilities due to the presence of a singular contaminant.
Additionally, recycling laws vary widely across state and local levels. Something that is considered recyclable in one state may be trash in another state. This causes great inconsistencies within the recycling infrastructure as there is no set standard for what is being recycled.
Other challenges facing the current system include consumer confusion on what, how, and where to recycle different materials, weak domestic markets for recycled materials, and lack of communication between manufacturers of new products and the recycling industry.
Addressing these infrastructure deficiencies requires examining successful international models, such as Japan.
Case Study of Japan vs. America
Japan’s recycling rates are much higher than the United States due to their strict waste regulations and culture around recycling.
In the United States, waste materials are not separated into further sub-categories than trash and recycle. In Japan, however, garbage is separated into 3 categories, burnable, non-burnable, and recyclables. Non-burnables are not limited to, but include pieces of metal, glass, shampoo, plastic packages, and rubber. Burnables are typically common household trash such as diapers, clothes, wood, and food waste. Any food waste is placed in a plastic bag, which limits the issue of food waste potentially contaminating any other recyclable materials. The Japanese government also offers subsidies and incentives to companies that implement sustainable production methods. Producers are responsible for their packaging. This level of detail is necessary for any recycling infrastructure to succeed.
In contrast to the American culture of convenience, a big part of Japan’s culture is “mottainai,” which is an ancient term emphasizing treating objects with respect. This concept has been added onto the classical 3 “R’s” of recycling (reduce-reuse-recycle), which delivers more household compliance with recycling regulations. It is expected that residents rinse out cans and bottles before being placed in the recycling bin, for example.
It also seems that recycling is made as intuitive as possible. Below is a set of public trash cans located in Japan:
Labeling is kept as clear as possible by providing examples of sample materials to avoid consumer confusion.
Additional Steps To Take
Improving American recycling requires action at multiple levels. On an individual level, the following can be done to support recycling efforts:
Buy fewer, better-made items.
Repair before replacing.
Rinse containers.
Skip wish-cycling, the practice of recycling items that cannot be recycled in hopes of it being accepted.
If a public bin is confusing, take the item home to sort properly after doing some quick research.
Individuals can also support Extender Producer Responsibility (EPR) adoption policies. These policies place pressure on industry to improve their packaging to be fully recyclable.
On a local and federal level, more efforts can be made in schools to make recycling as accessible as possible. This could include further education about recycling in elementary school. Trash bins as present in Japan with clear labeling could be incorporated into the public waste infrastructure as well.
Standardizing recycling regulations to the federal level is also crucial to create a functionable, effective recycling system.
Conclusion
The American recycling system currently prizes convenience, which is the biggest reason as to why the system is so flawed. However, if the United States can start integrating different perspectives to recycling, we will be in a much better position than ever before.
Looking at countries like Japan, for example, tells us that effective recycling takes federal investment, clear communication, and cultural commitment from individual consumers to corporations. This is exactly what the United States government needs to integrate into the current recycling framework.
Nonetheless, the path forward isn’t just about making recycling better. It’s about consuming less, reusing more, and building systems that make sustainable choices the easiest one.
Citations
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Contamination & Recycling FAQs. (2025). Sustainability at Princeton. https://sustain.princeton.edu/take-action/contamination-recycling-faqs
Environmental Protection Agency. (2024, November 8). National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling | US EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency; United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials
Iravanian, A., & Ravari, S. O. (2020). Types of Contamination in Landfills and Effects on The Environment: A Review Study. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 614(1), 012083. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/614/1/012083
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State of Recycling The Present and Future of Residential Recycling in the U.S. | 2024. (n.d.). https://recyclingpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/01/Recycling-Partnership-State-of-Recycling-Report-1.12.24.pdf
Tamaki, N., & Wada, N. (2023, March 15). How Japan is using the circular economy to recycle plastics. Circular Economy. https://circulareconomy.earth/publications/how-japan-is-using-the-circular-economy-to-recycle-plastics
The Recycling Partnership. (2024, January 10). Report Shows Only 21% of U.S. Residential Recyclables Are Captured, Points to Policy and Investment as Immediate Solutions. The Recycling Partnership. https://recyclingpartnership.org/report-shows-only-21-of-u-s-residential-recyclables-are-captured-points-to-policy-and-investment-as-immediate-solutions/
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, April 17). The U.S. Recycling System. United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/circulareconomy/us-recycling-system