The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced its annual paper recycling rates, with 61-65 percent of paper and 70-75 percent of cardboard available for recovery being recycled in the United States in 2025.
Paper and cardboard recycling rates held steady in 2025, underscoring the strength of America’s paper recycling system and highlighting that it is operating as designed. In 2025, around 45 million tons of paper were recycled in the United States—123,000 tons every day—including more than 33 million tons of cardboard. Nearly half of all recycled paper in 2025 went into containerboard, the material used to make cardboard boxes.
Overall, a decline in U.S. paper and paperboard production led to a decrease in generation of recovered paper available for recycling in 2025. In addition, U.S. mills used 31.4 million tons of recycled paper to manufacture new products in 2025, a decrease of 1.3 million tons from 2024. Despite market dynamics, paper recovery remained strong relative to the available supply, explaining why the U.S. paper recycling rate held steady.
