The Northeast outperforms the South when it comes to recycling frequency.
The same package meets different infrastructures across the country. Regional swings are material: the Northeast consistently outperforms the South on recycling frequency, highlighting how access, policy, and local systems shape everyday environmental behavior.
Suburban and urban households consistently outpace rural areas on frequency.
Community type also matters. Suburban and urban households consistently outpace rural areas on recycling frequency, suggesting that density, service access, and infrastructure availability play a meaningful role in participation.
Access to recycling services is stronger in the Northeast than in the South, and consistently lower in rural communities across material streams.
Access follows a similar pattern to recycling frequency. Households in the Northeast report broader and more consistent access to recycling programs than those in the South, while rural communities across all regions indicate lower accessibility across streams. These disparities suggest that infrastructure availability, from curbside collection to local drop-off systems, plays a defining role in shaping participation outcomes.
These infrastructure differences reshape what’s feasible for take-back, refill, or labeling claims. National brands can meet the country where it is by pairing consistent pack design with regional education, and by piloting higher-ambition programs first in the places that are already set up to succeed.
Key takeaways
- One-size-fits-all recycling programs aren't working and ignore the reality on the ground. Pilot high-ambition initiatives where infrastructure already exists, then adapt and scale based on what's actually feasible in other regions.
Want to go deeper? When it comes to recycling data, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you would like to take a deeper dive into the data, contact EcoFocus today to set up a no cost, no obligation chat. We can show you how our data will help you decode the purpose driven market.