Looking Ahead to 2026: Making a Circular Economy Work in, and for, America

What 2025 revealed and what 2026 must deliver 

By Heidi Sanborn, MPA, Executive Director/CEO; Heath Nettles, MBA, Deputy Director,

National Stewardship Action Council, Stewardship Action Foundation  

A circular economy only matters if it works. 

Not in theory. Not on paper. Not on a webpage or as part of sustainability goals. It works only when essential workers are safe, when fires stop happening in trucks and facilities, when communities see costs stabilize, and when the materials people collect and sort across

America actually become new products and packaging in factories. 

That includes recycling. It includes reuse. It includes compostability. It includes redesign. 

The real test of a circular economy is whether systems are built to keep workers and the public out of harm’s way and whether those systems deliver in practice. Recycling begins at design. It is only real when what is collected and sorted is turned into something new. If materials are landfilled, burned, or stockpiled, the system has failed workers, communities, and the public trust. 

As we move into 2026, the United States is no longer asking whether circular economy policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) should exist. We are asking whether they actually work. 

That shift changes everything. 

EPR is often framed as environmental or political. It is neither blue nor red, and it was never just about the environment. While effective recycling systems can lead to cleaner air and water, these policies are fundamentally about public health, worker safety, and economic value. 

As conservative economists have long said, if you want to reduce pollution without heavy regulation, make the “polluter pay.” When product designers can externalize the public health and environmental costs of their decisions onto workers, communities, and the planet while profiting from it, our economy is not operating as designed. When done correctly, circular economy policies like EPR unlock billions in economic value, protect the essential workers who keep materials moving, and strengthen local and national economies. Producers still profit, but not by shifting costs and risks onto others. 

What 2025 made clear is that policy alone does not prevent fires, create jobs, stabilize municipal budgets, or protect workers. Implementation does. 

That is why 2026 is a turning point. 

The Next Phase of a Circular Economy  

This next phase of a circular economy centers on four connected outcomes: 

1. Protecting workers and stopping fires 

2. Keeping factories supplied with valuable recycled materials 

3. Prioritizing domestic feedstock for U.S. manufacturing 

4. Ensuring programs are implemented in ways that work 

This is not just about packaging. It is about batteries, textiles, hazardous products, and every material stream that moves through our homes and communities. It includes packaging EPR and Deposit Return Systems, which remain among the most proven and effective tools for recovering clean, valuable material at scale. 

It is also not confined to traditionally “progressive” states. 

Nebraska’s Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Act, passed in 2025, is a powerful example. Lithium-ion batteries pose growing risks across the recycling system, from curbside carts to trucks, transfer stations, processing facilities, and landfills. Fires endanger essential workers, damage infrastructure, disrupt service, and drive-up insurance costs. Nebraska’s law reflects a shared priority: protecting workers and the public while keeping critical materials in circulation. It shows that stewardship policies succeed when they focus on practical outcomes, not ideology. 

As these laws move from passage to operation, the stakes rise. Programs are shifting from legislative text into contracts, budgets, and daily operations. This is when policy becomes real. 

Implementation Is Where Trust Is Built Or Lost 

Essential workers make this system function. They show up in extreme weather. They worked through the pandemic. They are forced to handle dangerous products improperly placed in the system. Stewardship policies must prioritize safety, system reliability, and risk reduction. Successful programs create clear incentives that reward responsible behavior across the supply chain and ensure that collected materials remain valuable. 

This is why the Stewardship Action Foundation along with the National Stewardship Action Council convenes national working groups across packaging, batteries, textiles, recycling refunds, household hazardous waste, and illegal single-use clone printer cartridges. These are pre-competitive spaces where pilots are born, problems are surfaced early, and solutions are advanced before they become crises. Implementation is where policy either succeeds or fails, and it is where collaboration matters most. 

As state programs expand, national attention is increasing. Conversations about federal harmonization and preemption are emerging. Thoughtful coordination can reduce complexity for businesses, but it must respect state sovereignty, and the role states play as laboratories of innovation. These systems are still young. They are learning in real time. Strong national outcomes will come from experience, data, and collaboration, not from rushing to override the very programs generating that insight. Circular economy systems work best when led by business and grounded in operations, not driven by short political timelines. 

It’s Time Recycling Started Working for America  

It’s also why we launched the ReMade in America initiative. 

ReMade in America It is a commitment to a circular economy that values materials, people, and domestic manufacturing. It is about ensuring that what is collected in America can be made into something new, unlocking significant economic, environmental, and public health benefits. It is about resilient supply chains, worker safety, our economy, and keeping valuable feedstock for productive use here at home. 

Strong systems reduce reliance on taxpayers, incentivize innovation, create local jobs, and strengthen American manufacturing. They honor the work of essential workers, and the trust consumers place in recycling. 

From here forward, success will not be measured by how many bills pass. It will be measured in worker safety, system reliability, cost stability, and whether recovered materials stay in productive use. 

A circular economy is only real when it works for the people who power it and the communities it is meant to serve. 

This is the work ahead of 2026. 

We will be exploring these themes and what comes next with our members on January 29 at our Annual Members Meeting. It is where policy becomes practice, where pilots take shape, and where the next phase of ReMade in America is built. 

If you care about making a circular economy actually work, this is where the conversation is happening. 

Where to Begin  

If you are working in recycling, manufacturing, product design, materials management, public service, or sustainability, this conversation will shape the systems you operate over the next decade. Our working groups are where implementation challenges surface early, where solutions are tested, and where cross-sector leaders help define what “working” really looks like. 

If you care about making a circular economy work, not just in theory, but in the real world - now is the moment to be part of it. This is where the conversation is happening. Want to learn more? Contact Heath@nsaction.us today.