The global recycling infrastructure today is a mess. While countries like Austria and Germany boast recycling rates in excess of 60 per cent, other equally developed countries continue to lag far behind. The US, for instance, continues to suffer from the same stagnant recycling rates that have plagued it for years. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, from 2012 to 2013 the US’s recycling rate actually went down from 34.5 per cent to 34.3 per cent.