Datadory notebook
PET bottle recycling rate USA: the 29.1% figure and where to get it
PET bottle recycling rate USA data starts with one official figure: 29.1% for PET bottles and jars, published by the US EPA's Plastics: Material-Specific Data page alongside HDPE natural bottles at 29.3%. NAPCOR's annual reports extend the PET-specific series for the United States and Canada, and APR tracks post-consumer tonnage.
1,744 datasets. Pick your catch.
What is the official PET bottle recycling rate in the USA?
The headline number is federal: the US EPA's Plastics: Material-Specific Data page lists PET bottles and jars at a 29.1% recycling rate, sitting next to HDPE natural bottles at 29.3%. Both figures live inside the agency's Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling program, which is commercial delivery terms and accessible on demand with no registration. The same reporting framework explains why substitution arguments get so heated — EPA's paper tables put corrugated boxes at 96.5% and other paper packaging at 20.8%, a 67.4-point spread above PET. Within Datadory's paper & plastic packaging pool — 19 primary datasets plus 11 related entries, with 10 of the 19 primary datasets free — exactly seven records carry a quality score of 9, and four of those seven are EPA waste series. The US EPA Plastics: Material-Specific Data page is the record that owns the PET number.
How do EPA, NAPCOR and APR PET data compare?
Three cataloged records cover the US PET number directly, and they answer different questions. EPA publishes the official rate on a fixed decade-plus frame, NAPCOR publishes PET-only rates every year, and APR publishes North American tonnage by resin. As of August 2026 their terms diverge more than their figures do, which is what the table below is for.
How do you build a defensible PET recycling-rate time series?
Six steps take the scattered sources to one defensible series:
| Attribute | US EPA Plastics: Material-Specific Data | NAPCOR PET packaging recycling & market data | APR plastics recycling data & reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | NAPCOR (National Association for PET Container Resources) | Association of Plastic Recyclers |
| Headline figure | PET bottles and jars 29.1%; HDPE natural bottles 29.3% | Annual national-level rates, tonnages and end-use shares | 5 billion lbs post-consumer plastic recycled in 2022 |
| Geography | United States (national) | United States and Canada | United States and Canada (North America) |
| Coverage window | Ten reported years, 1960-2018 | Report series 2010-2020 free; 30th annual (2024 data) edition published December 2025 | Annual editions by calendar year (2022 edition cited on site) |
| Datadory quality score | 9 of 10 | 7 of 10 | 6 of 10 |
Pick up where this leaves off
Every one of these ships with sample rows before you commit to anything.
US EPA Plastics: Material-Specific Data
US EPA Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling
US EPA Containers & Packaging: Product-Specific Data
NAPCOR PET packaging recycling & market data
APR Plastics Recycling Data & Reports
US EPA Paper and Paperboard: Material-Specific Data
Want rows instead of a pitch? Name the datasets.
API, files, or your warehouse. Daily, weekly, or hourly.
Get a sampleQuestions worth asking
What is the PET bottle recycling rate in the United States?
The US EPA's Plastics: Material-Specific Data page lists PET bottles and jars at 29.1% and HDPE natural bottles at 29.3%, inside the free, public-domain Facts and Figures program spanning ten reported years from 1960 to 2018. NAPCOR's annual reports extend PET-specific rates for the United States and Canada beyond the federal window.
Who publishes the numbers behind EPA's PET recycling rate?
EPA credits three sources on its plastics material-specific page: the American Chemistry Council, NAPCOR and the Association of Plastic Recyclers. The federal page aggregates association-collected data into public-domain tables, which is why the 29.1% PET bottles-and-jars rate and NAPCOR's own report series trace to overlapping collection efforts.