The United States collected 30.2 percent of the PET bottles available for recycling in 2024, according to NAPCOR’s 2024 PET Recycling Report, released December 10, 2025. That is down from a revised 32.5 percent in 2023. Collection fell 3.9 percent to about 1.89 billion pounds, which leaves roughly 4.4 billion pounds of PET bottles that were never collected.
The key numbers
| Measure | 2024 | 2023 (revised) |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. PET bottle recycling rate | 30.2% | 32.5% |
| Bottles collected | 1,889 million lb | 1,965 million lb |
| Bottles available for recycling | about 6,250 million lb* | 6,037 million lb |
| Average recycled content in U.S. bottles | 15.9% | 16.1% |
| North American collection rate | 39.2% | 40.9% |
*Our calculation from NAPCOR’s published rate and pounds collected. NAPCOR revises earlier years, so use the latest series. Pounds collected for 2024 as reported by Argus Media from the NAPCOR report.
The six-year trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. rate | 28.3% | 27.1% | 30.3% | 29.0% | 32.5% | 30.2% |
| North America | 35.4% | 34.2% | 38.4% | 37.4% | 40.9% | 39.2% |
What “recycling rate” means here
NAPCOR’s rate is a collection rate: pounds of bottles bought by reclaimers, divided by pounds of bottles available. It is measured at the point where reclaimers purchase the material, so it does not capture losses at sorting facilities, and it comes from a survey of about 30 reclaimers. It says how much PET got collected, not how much became a new product.
Why 2024 dipped
NAPCOR points to market pressure rather than one cause. Sales of recycled PET to U.S. and Canadian buyers fell 3 percent to 1,733 million pounds. Imports of recycled PET hit a record 395 million pounds, 23 percent of total supply. NAPCOR’s staff also said some products may have switched back to virgin resin. Average recycled content in bottles slipped from 16.1 to 15.9 percent for the same reason: more virgin PET on the market.
What went right
- Collection of PET thermoforms (clamshells, tubs and trays) rose 52 percent to 264 million pounds in the U.S. and Canada.
- Reclaimer yield, the share of incoming material that becomes usable output, rose from 81.5 to 85.2 percent.
- New bottles took more than 60 percent of recycled PET sold domestically, the largest end market.
What to expect for 2025
Probably lower. About 15 percent of U.S. reclamation capacity closed or shrank in 2025, including rPlanet Earth, a Phoenix Technologies plant in Ohio and a downsizing at Evergreen, and NAPCOR said a decrease would be reasonable to expect.
Deposit states collect far more
Ten states have bottle deposit laws: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. The Association of Plastic Recyclers says over 60 percent of plastic beverage containers recycled in the U.S. are collected in those states, and leading programs recover 80 to 90 percent of PET beverage containers. California’s #1 PET deposit containers came back at 74 percent in 2024. A 2024 study in the Journal of Industrial Ecology modeled a nationwide deposit system raising the U.S. PET bottle recycling rate to 82 percent.
Where the rest goes
EPA’s latest national breakdown is for 2018. Of 3.13 million tons of PET bottles and jars, 29.1 percent was recycled, about 14 percent was burned for energy, and about 57 percent was landfilled. Litter is harder to count, but Keep America Beautiful’s 2026 national study found plastic water bottle litter up 20 percent even as overall litter fell.
Rules pushing recycled content up
- California AB 793: plastic deposit beverage containers must average 25 percent recycled content from 2025 and 50 percent from 2030.
- Washington: 25 percent from 2026 and 50 percent from 2031.
- New Jersey: 15 percent from 2024, rising 5 points starting in 2027 and every three years after, to 50 percent by 2045.
- Packaging EPR: seven states (Maine, Oregon, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington) now make producers pay for packaging recycling.
Why this number matters to us
Every bottle that isn’t collected, and every dyed or dirty bale a recycler can’t sell, is feedstock that already exists. PlastiBioFuel turns that PET into ethanol. For what the 1 on the bottle means, read our resin code explainer.
Common questions
What is the PET bottle recycling rate in the U.S.?
30.2 percent in 2024, according to NAPCOR’s 2024 PET Recycling Report. It was 32.5 percent in 2023, the highest in decades, and averaged 29.5 percent from 2014 to 2023.
How many PET bottles are not recycled in the U.S.?
About 1.89 billion pounds were collected in 2024 out of roughly 6.25 billion pounds available, which leaves about 4.4 billion pounds uncollected. EPA’s latest national data found most uncollected PET bottles end up in landfills.
Which states recycle the most plastic bottles?
The ten bottle deposit states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Over 60 percent of plastic beverage containers recycled in the U.S. are collected there.
Sources
- NAPCOR, 2024 PET Recycling Report press release (Dec 10, 2025)
- NAPCOR, 2024 PET Recycling Report infographic
- NAPCOR, 2023 PET Recycling Report with revision table
- Argus Media, US PET bottle recycling rate falls in 2024 (Dec 11, 2025)
- Waste Dive, NAPCOR PET recycling data (Dec 11, 2025)
- Association of Plastic Recyclers, Bottle Deposit Laws Can Increase Plastics Recycling
- CalRecycle, 2024 Beverage Container Recycling in California
- Basuhi et al., Journal of Industrial Ecology (2024), doi:10.1111/jiec.13496
- U.S. EPA, 2018 Tables and Figures
- Keep America Beautiful, 2026 National Litter Study
- CalRecycle, Plastic Minimum Content Standards
- Washington RCW 70A.245.020