Waste Management announced that its curbside recycling program will now accept polypropylene plastic cups and paper to‑go cups across the United States, effective immediately with the announcement. The company said the change will be rolled out as municipal recycling lists are updated, a process that typically takes 6 to 24 months to complete in each community.
WM is committing $1.4 billion to new recycling infrastructure to support the expanded program. The investment will fund advanced sorting technology at material‑recovery facilities and new processing lines that can separate the plastic lining from paper cups. WM is partnering with Starbucks, The Recycling Partnership, How2Recycle, and the NextGen Consortium to update municipal guidelines and to help build a domestic market for the recovered materials.
The expansion is made possible by recent technological breakthroughs. Paper mills now have the ability to separate the polypropylene lining from the paper fiber during pulping, eliminating a long‑standing contamination barrier. At the same time, sensor‑based sorting systems at MRFs can reliably identify and separate polypropylene cups, allowing them to be diverted to dedicated recycling streams. These advances mean that the cups can be recycled at scale, rather than ending up in landfills or incinerators.
From a business perspective, the move positions WM to capture a rapidly growing beverage‑cup market that is projected to reach tens of billions of dollars by 2034. By expanding its accepted materials, WM can increase material recovery, create new revenue streams from the sale of recycled commodities, and strengthen its sustainability portfolio. The partnership with Starbucks also signals a broader industry shift toward circular packaging, which could drive further demand for WM’s recycling services.
Tara Hemmer, Waste Management’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said, “Plastic and paper to‑go cups are showing up in greater volumes at our facilities. We are executing on our $1.4 billion investment to unlock recycling capabilities so that more material can be turned into new products.” Starbucks’ Marika McCauley Sine added, “WM’s expanded curbside acceptance of our to‑go cups is a meaningful step toward a more circular economy.”
The announcement underscores WM’s commitment to sustainability and positions the company to benefit from the growing demand for recyclable packaging. By investing heavily in infrastructure and partnering with key industry players, WM is laying the groundwork for a more circular economy while creating new business opportunities in the recycling market.
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