Survey Finds 8 Out of 10 Households Recycle
A survey commissioned by the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) revealed that almost 94 percent of Americans think “recycling is good for the environment.”
Out of the 750 households Newton Marketing Research surveyed, 81.1 percent said their household recycles waste products or reusable products. 
According to Doyle Yoon, a professor at Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Oklahoma, there is a significant correlation between what people think about recycling and their actions.
More than 27 percent of those surveyed said paper was the most environmentally friendly packaging, while glass followed closely with 22.3 percent. And a whopping 69 percent of participants said they use their curbside program to recycle glass bottles or jars at home.
GPI sponsored the survey as a part of its upcoming Recycle Glass Week. According to GPI President Joseph Cattaneo, the report is a positive sign for residential recycling.
“It is clear from the poll that Americans want to pitch in and recycle. We hope Recycle Glass Week will encourage consumers to recycle glass bottles and jars in their communities, along with other packaging materials,” Cattaneo tells Greener Package. “This will help reduce the amount of recyclable materials entering landfills and help create a ‘greener’ future.”
By generating awareness about the environmental benefits of glass container recycling, GPI members hope to help the industry reach a nationwide goal of 50 percent recycled content in the manufacturing of new glass bottles and jars by 2013.
The U.S. EPA estimates that 75 percent of our waste is recyclable, which goes well beyond what you toss in your recycling bin at home or at school.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Eleanor
posted on September 18th, 2009 at 7:32 am
While it’s good to hear that many households are recycling, we still are throwing too much away! Part of the problem is that we just chuck something in the trash and then it’s picked up once a week and taken out of sight, out of mind. MIT is doing a really interesting study on “tracking trash,” check out this blog post: http://ow.ly/pYhM
Maurizio Maranghi
posted on January 25th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I agree with the previous comment from Eleanor, we most definitely throw too much stuff away, rather than recycle it. I just don’t think that everyone truly understands what they can and cannot recycle, that they just default to throwing it all away. It is so sad to see SO MANY RECYCABLE PRODUCTS JUST BEING TRASHED. We need a serious intervention here, because we are in a serious crisis.
- Maurizio Maranghi -
Matt Cote
posted on January 26th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Amanda – do you know how many households by percentage in the US recycle paper products?
Peace.
Matt