California is far from reaching its recycling target — and that’s OK

Californians have been conditioned to consider recycling to be an unchallengeable proposition. It’s a moral imperative. Those who don’t cling to the faith are heretics. Yet fewer are practicing what they preach. 

Data from CalRecycle show that of the 77.2 million tons of waste generated in 2024, only 32.4 million tons or 42% was recycled. The rest, 44.7 million tons, was dumped in landfills.  This is far from the state’s goal to reduce, recycle or compost 75% of all the waste produced, a target mandated by 2022’s Senate Bill 54.