The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is working on a plan to achieve the state's long-held goal to recycle half its waste. Right now, only about 19 percent gets recycled.

Thin, flexible plastics — like plastic bags, food wrap and packing material — are among the least likely to get recycled. They get tangled up in the machinery at recycling facilities and can break the equipment.

The U.S. Department of Energy is testing out a new way to recycle rare earth minerals. RecycleForce is the first test site in the country for a recycling method experts hope will be able to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign materials.

A new contract deal with Lakeshore Recycling Systems will take over solid waste collections starting next year and phase in universal recycling in 2028.

Indianapolis remains the largest city in the country without universal curbside recycling, and it will continue to hold that distinction until at least 2028, three years after Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration initially said it would launch.

Republic Services and Blue Polymers broke ground on a new Indianapolis plastics recycling complex Nov. 9. The complex will contain a Republic Services Polymer Center and a Blue Polymer advanced polymer production facility, which will improve plastic circularity production and supply recycled materials for sustainable packaging and other uses. Both of these facilities are expected to open in late 2024.

The City of Indianapolis is planning to overhaul its recycling program, as current contracts are set to expire in 2025.

Indianapolis is one of the only major U.S. cities without a comprehensive curbside recycling program for all residents.

The bills author has said it could help Indiana to reach its goal of recycling half its waste. But a University of Pittsburgh professor questions whether some of these chemical processes should be considered recycling at all.

Spring is the ideal season for cleaning out and discarding unused or outdated items throughout the home. The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability, also known as Sustain Indy, will hold a free recycling event on April 23 at Krannert Park for unwanted electronics.