Marketing & Communications

How2Recycle Label Will Now Offer Real-Time, Localized Packaging Disposal Instructions

New, dynamic label features The Recycling Partnership’s Recycle Check QR code and utilizes data from its national database to demystify recycling across the US.

Published 2 months ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: The Recycling Partnership

GreenBlue — the environmental nonprofit behind the US’s most recognized disposal-instruction label, How2Recycle — has unveiled How2Recycle Plus. The new, dynamic label features The Recycling Partnership’s Recycle Check QR code and will provide trusted, real-time local recycling and disposal instructions to consumers across the US beginning in 2025.

The announcement follows How2Recycle’s unveiling of How2Recycle Pro — a refreshed version of its legacy label designed to be actionable, clear and compliant with new regulations. The label design refresh marks a new chapter for North America’s most recognizable on-pack label; and now, How2Recycle’s more than 800 members will be able to adopt the dynamic How2Recycle Plus featuring Recycle Check label — bringing the newly integrated label to packages nationwide.

“How2Recycle has the consumer recognition — 8 in 10 Americans recognize our labels — and the brand reach to make it an obvious choice and a simple solution in the evolving world of recycling policy and consumer education,” said GreenBlue Executive Director Paul Nowak. “Now for the first time, we have the data and technology to link national brand packaging with local recycling program acceptance.”

This new label offering comes after a year-long pilot that paired the widely recognized How2Recycle legacy label with The Recycling Partnership’s Recycle Check QR code, which covers all residential recyclables — including paper, plastics, metals and glass.

Now, when brands opt to adopt the How2Recycle Plus label featuring Recycle Check, the label lets consumers scan the QR code, enter a zip code or allow location permissions and receive a clear, yes-no answer on whether a material is accepted for recycling in their community. How2Recycle Plus featuring Recycle Check draws from The Partnership’s National Recycling Database — which includes acceptance data across more than 9,000 unique community recycling programs, representing 99 percent of the US population. On September 23, the Database released, for the first time, Community Recycling Program Acceptance Data — which provides critical insights that better enables companies, local governments, policymakers and the public to navigate recycling acceptance.

Image credit: How2Recycle

In recent years, the fragmented recycling system, changes to material recyclability and issues with access to recycling have contributed to an erosion of trust in the recycling system. The recycling system is faced with new changes as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation spreads, states seek to advance “label laws” to regulate recycling, and consumers demand transparency around recycling. To meet the moment, How2Recycle Plus featuring Recycle Check can help clear confusion around recycling and empower individuals to make informed disposal decisions.

“With a How2Recycle label already inside nearly every home in America, the new label delivers real-time information on what is accepted for recycling locally to people across the country,” said Katherine Huded, The Recycling Partnership’s VP of Recyclability Solutions. "Reducing confusion on what can be recycled is essential to improving the US recycling rate. Real-time, location-specific education is a critical tool for recovering the 76 percent of what could be recycled but is instead sent to landfills or incinerators."

How2Recycle Plus featuring Recycle Check is now available for brand adoption and application to their packaging. Individuals will begin to find packages featuring this label in 2025. Anyone seeking disposal information today can continue looking for the How2Recycle label for instruction, and find local recycling information with Recycle Check chatbot that provides a clear yes-no answer on what is accepted for recycling today in their community at recyclecheck.org.