The American Forest & Paper Association reports a record 67.2 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in 2016. U.S. paper recovery rate statistics are available at www.paperrecycles.org/statistics.
The annual paper recovery rate has doubled since 1990 and U.S. paper recovery has met or exceeded 63 percent for the past eight years. The industry has a goal to exceed 70 percent paper recovery for recycling by 2020 as part of its Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 sustainability initiative.