When it comes to recycling, each state in the United States has their own set of rules, and some states take recycling much more seriously than others. The team at Bottle Store utilized data from “The 50 States of Recycling” in their analysis to determine which states are the best and worst at recycling across the United States. As part of their scoring methodology, the team at Bottle Store ranked the various states on four main factors – the recycling rate for all materials, the pounds per capita recycled, the bottle bill, and the CCPM-supportive legislation.
According to their research, it was found that the states across the United States with the highest recycling rates included Maine (74%), Vermont (62%), Connecticut (63%), Oregon (66%), California (54%), Massachusetts (52%), Iowa (62%), Delaware (59%), New Jersey (62%), and New York (58%). In comparison, the ten states per this infographic with the worst recycling rates include Alaska (16%), Mississippi (17%), Tennessee (22%), Alabama (22%), Ohio (27%), Kentucky (24%), Louisiana (26%), New Mexico (27%), Arkansas (28%), and Oklahoma (29%).
Alaska was rated as the very worst state when it came to recycling, with the lowest recycling rate of 16%. Not only that, but with just 53 pounds of waste being recycled per capita, Alaska also recycles the smallest amount per resident of the state. In Alaska, residents of the state don’t have access to curbside recycling, which is a major contributing factor to Alaska’s very low ranking. Barely ahead of Alaska at the bottom of this ranking is Mississippi, with a recycling rate of only 17%. To add, with just 63 pound of waste being recycled per capita in the state, Mississippi also has the least amount of material per resident that’s actually recycled. On this infographic ranking states for how great and bad they are at recycling, where did your home state rank?
