Carton recycling access expands to 2.5 million US households

The Denton, Texas-based Carton Council has announced continued growth in carton recycling access across the United States. 

In 2025, nearly 2.5 million households gained the ability to recycle food and beverage cartons, a figure that represents approximately 1.5 percent of all American households, according to the council. 86 percent of households with recycling programs now include carton recycling.  

Carton recycling access is tracked through an independent third-party that measures whether households have a local recycling program that includes cartons. Today, 63 percent of U.S. households have access to carton recycling programs—up from 18 percent in 2009 when the Carton Council was founded. The council has an address locator tool where residents can view recycling access. 

“Real-world recycling begins with household access,” says Jordan Fengel, Carton Council executive director. “Before a material can be sorted and recycled, residents must be able to place cartons in the recovery stream. This growth reflects direct collaboration with communities, recyclers and policymakers to strengthen the recycling system.” 

The Washington-based Recycling Partnership has indicated that approximately 73 percent of U.S. households have access to recycling services. The Carton Council’s data indicates cartons are accepted in the vast majority of programs (86 percent by household), demonstrating broad compatibility with existing collection systems. 

Community partnerships 

Because many regions already offer recycling services, recent progress comes from targeted improvements aligned with local capacity and existing infrastructure. 2025 additions that illustrate this range of approaches include: 

“At this stage, progress happens one program at a time,” says Jason Pelz, VP of recycling at the Carton Council. “We’re working directly with local governments and material recovery facilities to update accepted material lists, optimize sortation and ensure cartons enter recycling streams. Each community addition strengthens supply for established and emerging recycling end markets.” 

The Carton Council says the 2025 increase reflects continued coordinated growth across collection programs, sorting facilities and recyclers, demonstrating steady, measurable improvement in real-world recycling infrastructure.