Resources

The US Needs EPR for Plastics and Packaging

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies for packaging and paper are critical for reducing unnecessary packaging. The policies also support scaling up reuse systems, improving and increasing recycling, ensuring equitable and convenient access to recycling, and helping drive more sustainable product design.

Read our report for information about how the US Needs EPR Policies for Packaging and Paper and how the needs of recycling operators can be integrated into the policies.

Annual Report 2022

Our vision is simple: Transform the current “take-make-waste” system of consumption into a circular model. We know mission-driven, authentic recycling is a key part of this change, and we’re in the game to champion the pillars on which recycling was originally modeled. 

Here’s a review of 2022 – and our work accomplished towards achieving this vision.

AMBR Comments on FTC Green Guides

AMBR provided comments to the Federal Trade Commission as it considers the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims,
also known as the Green Guides. As mission-based recyclers, we experience first-hand how contamination in the recycling stream due to mislabeled packaging results in increased costs of recycling as well as further exacerbated harm to public health and the environment. We made a series of recommendations for updating the Green Guides to eliminate plastic packaging contamination.

Brochure: AMBR Overview

An overview of the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers, including our mission and and key policy positions.

Chasing Arrows: The Truth About Recycling

Reduce, reuse, then recycle: this was where recycling was intended to fit within the circular economy. Instead, recycling has become the scapegoat for unchecked plastic packaging production. We will never recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis. But with support, regulation, and investments, we can rebuild the recycling system, a vital part of a Zero Waste society. Chasing arrows was produced by Peak Plastic Foundation, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaking collective working toward ending fossil fuels.

Infographic: Why Are So Few Plastics Recyclable?

The US recycles less than 6% of plastics annually. Plastic bottles such as soda bottles and milk jugs are the most recyclable plastics, yet less than 30% of these plastics are recycled each year. The sad truth is most plastic products and packaging end up in landfills, incinerators, or litter in our environment. View our infographic to understand how this happens.

Annual Report 2021

Ask anyone in the recycling industry, and they will tell you—we are in unprecedented times! Never before have we seen such a wave of public interest, activism, stakeholder engagement, and policies focused on or intersecting with recycling. AMBR took advantage of this pivotal moment to strike while the iron is hot, making 2021 a landmark year for advancing Zero Waste principles.

Report: The False Promise of Plastics-to-Fuel Technologies

Instead of investing in risky, unproven plastic-to-fuel technologies, AMBR recommends investors and legislators focus on strategies that will reduce plastic pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels, and the resulting climate impacts.