The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office is launching the Re-X Before Recycling Prize, administered by the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Recycling helps the planet and empowers our communities. Unfortunately, many people do not fully understand what happens to their recyclables after they are put in the bin. Even fewer understand the need to purchase recycled products to complete the cycle of recycling.

This new Buy Recycled initiative seeks to change that.  

Right now, most of the world’s economy is linear: Materials are mined, processed, manufactured, sold, and then eventually dumped in landfills. But the idea of  a circular economy—one in which materials are used in a closed loop, running on renewable energy—is gaining traction, and many companies are setting goals to become circular in the next few decades. The coming years will be crucial in solidifying the growing circular economy.