Markets for Recovered Material

COVID-19 Resources and Updates

CalRecycle is committed to serving the public during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) health emergency. Visit our COVID-19 Resources web page for additional information.

Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets & Curbside Recycling

CalRecycle is convening a commission of public agencies, private solid waste enterprises and environmental organizations with recycling expertise to make policy recommendations that will help California achieve it’s 75% recycling, composting and source reduction goal. The commission will also identify products that are recyclable or compostable, and regularly collected in curbside recycling programs. For more information on the status of the commission, please visit our Statewide Commission page.

Impacts of Global Markets

In 2016, 62 percent of recyclable materials exported from California were sent to China. In July 2017, China announced a policy called National Sword, which limits the import of contaminated recyclable commodities. For more information on China’s new policies on recyclable material imports, please visit our National Sword page.

Market Development

CalRecycle assists the development of recycling markets and businesses, and promotes the efficient collection and recycling of secondary materials into high quality, value-added products.

  • Business Waste Reduction. A directory of waste prevention information for businesses.
  • Environmentally Preferable Purchasing. Every product purchased has an impact on human health and the environment.
  • Compost Market Development. Nearly 170 businesses in California produce compost and mulch. CalRecycle provides regulatory oversight and marketing assistance to compost and mulch producers.
  • Publications. Market development-related publications from the CalRecycle publications catalog.
  • Recycled-Content Product Manufacturers (RCPM) and RecycleStore. Find products made from recycled material. The RCPM includes products of any business in California that manufactures with California discards. RecycleStore lists only businesses that are located in one of California’s Recycling Market Development Zones that manufacturers with California discards.
  • Recycling Market Development Zone Program (RMDZ). CalRecycle funds up to 75 percent of the startup costs, up to $2 million per business, of qualified recycling-based businesses that are located in specified areas of California.
  • State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign. The State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign (SABRC) is a joint effort of CalRecycle and the Department of General Services (DGS) to implement California law requiring California agencies and the Legislature to purchase products with recycled content.
  • Recycled Content Products for Construction Catalog. This site is intended to help specification writers, architects and planners in finding products that range from reuse to recycled content products.
  • Recycled Tire Products and Uses. Californians discard 31 million tires, and import another 3 million discarded tires, every year. Tires recycled in California are used to produce tire shreds and crumbs for new products, recycled in rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC), used in civil engineering applications, or combusted as fuel.
  • Rural Market Development Resources. Market development activities can help rural jurisdictions build a nucleus of creativity and business skills resulting in new end uses for previously discarded materials, in job creation, and even in greater leverage in the marketplace of recycled commodities.

Recovered Materials Markets

CalRecycle at one time maintained the Recovered Materials Marketing Guides to provide recycling and marketing information for collectors, processors, product manufacturers, academics, and the general public. However, numerous commercial ventures and trade journals now provide price information with better speed and accuracy.

For recovered materials market prices, there are several commercially available resources, including:

Other information regarding glass, metals, organics, plastic, and tires is located under those topics within the CalRecycle website.

If you maintain market prices of recovered materials and would like to be listed on this page as a resource, contact the staff person listed below.

For more information contact: Business Assistance, bzassist@calrecycle.ca.gov.

Resources