Resource recovery is the foundation of Recology’s vision of a world without waste, which is why we’re constantly seeking new ways to improve recovery, increase efficiency, and reduce contamination in our recycling and composting processes. Recology’s collection and processing activities supported the recovery of over 1.3 million tons of recyclable and compostable materials in 2022.

These activities were made possible through participation and proper sorting by our customers and communities. By keeping recyclable and compostable materials out of landfills, we ensure they can be recycled into new products or delivered back to the earth—conserving energy, avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, and preserving natural resources. This is the circular economy in action.

Without an immediate, sustained, and global reduction in emissions, climate change will continue to create cascading risks that will be more challenging to manage. Although the climate crisis can no longer be avoided entirely, we aim to be an integral part of the solution by partnering with our communities and customers to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Every behavioral change—from composting food scraps to adopting renewable fuels—matters.

In 2022, for every ton of greenhouse gases emitted by our operations, Recology and our industry partners avoided 10x more greenhouse gas emissions through our recycling and composting activities.

In 2018, we estimated that our fleet was powered by 50% renewable or alternative energy sources. In 2019, we set the ambitious goal of improving this to 90% by 2022. Despite increased global fuel prices and limited availability of renewable fuels, we are proud to say we powered our fleet with over 90% renewable or alternative fuels in 2022.

We also ran our facilities on 90% renewable or carbon-free electricity sources in 2022, and by 2028, we’re committed to making that number 100%. Recology intends to meet this goal by opting into clean electricity service levels with local utility providers, exploring solar installations at our facilities, and, where necessary, purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs).