Yesterday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced a new National Recycling Goal to increase the national recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030.

Wheeler made the announcement while discussing the Agency’s draft National Recycling Strategy at the third annual America Recycles Summit. The new strategy hopes to achieve three key objectives in pursuit of the ambitious new goal: (1) Reduce Contamination in Recycling, (2) Make Recycling Processing Systems More Efficient, and (3) Strengthen the Economic Markets for Recycled Materials.

From the press release:

“In celebration of America Recycles Day, I am proud to announce the national goal to increase the U.S. recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This ambitious national recycling goal will help guide investments and commitments from across the recycling system.”

“Without national leadership on this issue, recycling has lingered in the low 30 percent range for the last twenty years. The economic and environmental benefits from recycling are clear, and we’ve made a lot of progress, but much more needs to be done to obtain the benefits of increasing the national recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030,” said EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management Assistant Administrator Peter Wright.

For more information, view the full press release.