Why are Philly recycling rates so low? A mix of contamination, culture and systems still make it complicated in 2026.

City leaders, educators, and community advocates agreed on one thing at our recent recycling panel: fixing Philadelphia’s waste problem will take more than better sorting.

Philadelphia’s recycling system is often met with skepticism. Residents question whether materials actually get recycled, complain about overflowing trash, and point to a lack of public bins, illegal dumping, and mixed messages around what belongs where.

At Green Philly’s recent panel discussion on recycling and waste, local leaders unpacked those frustrations and offered a more nuanced view of what’s happening on the ground and what it will take to improve it.

Panelists included Carlton Williams, Director of Philadelphia’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives; Jill Kelekolio, Sustainability Coordinator for Consumption and Waste at the School District of Philadelphia; Hakeem Ruiz, president and co-founder of The Block Gives Back; and Terrill Haigler, activist and content creator also known as Ya Fav Trashman.

Here are the big takeaways.

Contamination is still one of recycling’s biggest problems

One of the clearest themes of the conversation was that many residents still do not know how to recycle correctly.

Haigler, a former sanitation worker, said contamination can ruin an entire load. If residents toss in food-covered containers, unrecyclable materials, or items like Styrofoam, workers may have to treat the full load as trash.

That disconnect fuels a lot of public mistrust. Residents may see materials tossed into the trash and assume the city is not recycling at all, when in many cases, contamination is the reason.

The takeway? If you want your recycling to count, it has to be clean and contain only accepted items.

Philly still recycles, but confusion remains

Williams addressed a common misconception and said, Philadelphia does still recycle.

The city currently provides recycling service to roughly 550,000 households, he said, and collects around 85,000 tons of recyclable material. But Philadelphia’s diversion rate is still lower than where the city wants it to be, around 14%, compared to a goal of 25 to 30%.

He acknowledged that pandemic-era disruptions damaged public trust. During that time, the city operated a temporary hybrid system, and some recycling was discarded because of contamination or staffing constraints. But Williams emphasized that this was a temporary exception, not the long-term standard.

The city has taken on a “Yes, Philadelphia Recycles” campaign while trying to correct public misunderstandings and improve participation.

Recycling is not just a systems issue. It is a culture issue.

If there was one phrase that kept coming up, it was this: culture matters.

Ruiz said littering and waste habits are often learned behaviors, passed down over generations. Haigler agreed, sharing that many Philadelphians grow up seeing litter as normal, even if no one explicitly teaches it that way.

That means education cannot stop at rules and signage. It also has to address pride, habits, and what people see modeled around them.

Several panelists pointed to other places, including Japan, Puerto Rico, and Disney parks, where very different trash systems still produce cleaner public spaces. Their takeaway was that infrastructure alone will not fix a litter problem without public ownership and shared expectations.

More trash cans may help.

The public trash can debate got plenty of airtime.

Haigler shared a striking example from his own work: after placing five trash cans in key locations and paying to have them emptied regularly, he said those bins collected five tons of trash in four months and noticeably reduced litter nearby.

He also referenced a Disney study that found people are generally only willing to carry trash about 30 feet before disposing of it.

But Williams said that for the city, trash cans are more complicated. Trash cans only work when there is enough staff and capacity to service them consistently, or they overflow and create more litter. In some neighborhoods, public cans have been misused as residential dumping sites, said Williams.

Schools are a major opportunity and a major challenge

At the School District of Philadelphia, Kelekolio said waste reduction is tied closely to education, operations, and scale.

The district’s diversion rate is hovering around 13%, similar to the city’s, but food waste remains a huge challenge. A recent waste audit found that about 40% of the district’s waste stream is food waste.

That is especially difficult in a school system where meals must be served regardless of whether students eat them.

Kelekolio said one of the district’s biggest hurdles is capacity. She is one person overseeing waste-related efforts across more than 230 schools. The district has started pilot recycling programs, improved signage, and developed better contamination tracking with its hauler to target schools that need more support.

When staff, teachers, and students understand the system, better habits follow.

Neighborhood trust and community support matter

Ruiz brought the conversation back to the block level. From his perspective, many residents feel unsupported, either by the city, by businesses, or by their own neighbors. That can quickly turn litter and dumping into a blame game.

He described how small interventions, like neighbors sharing bags, offering bins, or simply thanking each other for cleaning, can help shift that dynamic. He also pointed to local businesses, especially corner stores, as an important part of the equation. When businesses do not provide trash cans or engage with nearby residents, neighborhood frustration grows.

His message was less about waiting for someone to fix it and more about building community accountability block by block.

Communication may be one of Philly’s biggest missing pieces

One of the most compelling ideas came from Haigler’s story about Austin, Texas.

While visiting the city, he learned Austin invested heavily in communications with a staff of 20+ to prepare residents for municipal composting. Instead of relying on one-off announcements, the city repeatedly sent out information, built campaigns around the program, and made education part of daily life.

Panelists repeatedly returned to the idea that=

The conclusion? Recycling is still complicated.

Philadelphia’s waste and recycling challenges are not about one broken piece. They are about a system that depends on many parts working together: government, schools, businesses, block captains, educators, and residents.

The panel made clear that people want cleaner neighborhoods and more trust in the process. But to get there, Philadelphia needs clearer education, better coordination, stronger community culture, and solutions that reflect how people actually live. And if Philly wants behavior to change, it has to meet residents where they are, whether that is in schools, on social media, or through neighborhood-based organizing.

As several panelists put it, the work starts with all of us.

Photos from Sorting it Out: The State of Philadelphia Recycling 2026

Photos by Madasyn Andrews.

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