3. Improving Human Mindset

4. Use Composts [common idea]

1. Improving Human Mindset

2. Green Camps:             

Kids make Best out of Waste. Adults Discuss ideas for a sustainable world.

3. Public Awareness:      

Trash Can every km. That’s the most ease we can provide to citizens.

4. Alternative Method:  

Animal Feeding [Only Kitchen Stuff]     
            

1. Air Purifying Tower:                     

Exists in Delhi, Chandigarh and Some Foreign Countries

2. Waste Powered Bus: 
Runs on Bio waste

3. 100% Plastic-Based Furniture:  

Method to REUSE [Inside The Items, Not Outer Shell]

4. Use Smart-Dustbins

Q - 3  How can we take initiative at a global level -
Global initiative -
https://www.unep.org
Social media
broadcasting media


Q - 4 How can we take our plan further ?
https://www.indiatoday.in
Join campaigns and Create campaigns
Motivate people to recycle and compost

Area - Fast Facts and Animal Deaths:
https://www.condorferries.co.uk/marine-ocean-pollution statistics-facts#:~:text=100%20million%20marine%20animals%20die,just%20the%20creatures%20we%20find!
Area - Charts and Graphs:
https://www.earthday.org/how-our-trash-impacts-the-
environment/

SUBJECT FOCUS- UOI

Area - Municipal Solid Waste:
https://www.vedantu.com/biology/causes-of-solid-waste-pollution

Area - Causes and Effects:
https://www.vedantu.com/biology/causes-of-solid-waste-pollution

https://youtu.be/XR5cZ4SOCVU

Delegation of Work:
Bria - Design
Shlok - Websites

2. Landfills are among the biggest contributors to soil pollution – roughly 80% of the items buried in landfills could be recycled.

3. Although 75% of America’s waste is recyclable, we only recycle around 30% of it. Turns out, there are a few easy steps you can take to start recycling better.

4. A single recycled glass bottle saves enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours. It also creates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than would be created when making a new bottle.

5. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as it takes to burn it.

6. It only takes 5 recycled plastic bottles to make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket.

7. Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty – and it can be recycled.

8. The U.S. recycling rate is around 32%. If we’re able to get the rate to 75%, the effect will be like removing 50 million passenger cars from U.S. roads.

9. Over 14 million tons of recyclable clothing, shoes, and textiles make their way into landfills each year.

10. The leading cities for recycling in the US are (#1) San Francisco, CA (#2) Boston, MA (#3) Chicago, IL (#4) Denver, CO, and (#5) Portland, OR.

11. The leading countries for recycling rates are: (#1) Switzerland [52%] (#2) Australia [49.7%] (#3) Germany [48%] (#4) Netherlands [46%] and (#5) Norway [40%]. The United States comes in at around 31.5%.

12. 9 out of 10 people said they would recycle if it were “easier”.

13. Studies indicate that women on average typically express more concern for the environment and are more likely to recycle than men.

14. The United States throws away $11.4 billion worth of recyclable containers and packaging every year.

15. In the United States, we throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour – about 42,000 per minute, or about 695 per second. But there’s an easy way to reduce your plastic use.

16. It takes 450 years for average-sized plastic water bottles to fully decompose.

17. The amount of plastic film and wrap produced annually could shrink-wrap the state of Texas.

18. The energy it takes to make 1.5 million tons of plastic could power 250,000 homes.

19. There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.

20. According to a study done by the University of Georgia, 18 billion pounds of plastic trash winds up in our oceans each year. To put that in perspective, it’s enough trash to cover every foot of coastline around the world with five full trash bags of plastic…compounding every year.

21. Plastics make up more than 80% of debris polluting our oceans.

22. Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement and ingestion.

23. Glass bottles take 4,000 years to decompose.

24. Glass, like aluminum, is infinitely recyclable – without any loss in purity or quality.

25. Glass bottles have been reduced in weight by approximately 40% over the past 30 years.

26. Recycled glass is substituted for up to 95% of raw materials.

27. An estimated 80% of all glass containers recovered for recycling are re-melted in furnaces and used to manufacture new glass containers. 

28. Glass container manufacturers hope to achieve 50 percent recycled content in the manufacture of new glass bottles. This achievement would save enough energy to power 21,978 homes for one year while removing over 181 tons of waste from landfills monthly.

29. Americans use 80 billion aluminum soda cans each year.

30. In only three months, enough aluminum cans are thrown out in the United States to rebuild all of our commercial air fleets.

31. Aluminum cans make up 1.3% of waste in the United States because they are one of the most recycled items.

32. There is no limit to the number of times you can recycle an aluminum can.

33. After recycling, an aluminum can is usually repurposed within 60 days.

34. Recycling just two aluminum cans saves the same amount of energy it takes to power a PC for six hours.

35. You can make 20 new cans from recycled material using the same amount of energy that it takes to make 1 brand-new can.

36. While the United States celebrates the holidays, Americans produce an additional 5 million tons of waste (four million of the 5 million tons consisting of wrapping paper and shopping bags).

37. The majority of the 5.6 million tons of junk mail that Americans receive annually ends up in landfills.

38. The energy used to create and distribute junk mail in the US for one day could heat 250,000 homes.

39. On average, Americans use 700 pounds of paper a year. Each.

40. U.S. businesses use around 21 million tons of paper every year.

41. The United States throws out the amount of office paper it would take to build a 12-foot wall from Los Angeles to New York City (2,794 miles).

42. Americans make nearly 400 billion photocopies a year, which comes out to 750,000 copies every minute.

43. The average office worker in the United States goes through roughly 500 disposable cups annually.

44. Making new paper from recycled materials uses less energy than producing paper from virgin tree products and leaves more trees to absorb excess carbon dioxide.

45. For every 1 ton of paper that’s produced, roughly 390 gallons of oil is used to make it.

46. 1 trillion pages of paper equals 8.5 million acres of trees. That is an area greater than the state of Maryland.

47. 2,000 pounds (or 1 ton) of recycled paper helps to save over 350 gallons of oil, 17 trees, and a large portion of landfill space.

48. A single American consumes roughly seven trees annually in paper and wood products.

49. Of the 62 million newspapers printed daily in the United States, 44 million will be thrown away (roughly 500,000 trees).

50. If 1/10 of all discarded American newspapers were recycled annually, approximately 25 million trees would be saved.

 

One ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil One ton of recycled cardboard saves 9 cubic yards of landfill space

 

Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Kansas generated nearly 80% of the hazardous waste.
https://www.hwhenvironmental.com/

Aluminum cans are the number one most recycled item in the U.S.
https://arrowaste.com/

On average, each person produces approximately 4.5 pounds of waste per day.
https://arrowaste.com/

A recycled plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a light-bulb for four hours.
https://www.theworldcounts.com/

Waste is partly because 99 percent of the stuff we buy is trashed within 6 months.

Americans throw out roughly 43,000 tons of food daily.
https://wastefree.earth/

Over 90% of all products shipped in the U.S. are packaged in corrugated boxes, which makes up more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard
https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/

From 2015 to 2016, the City of Raleigh, North Carolina generated approximately  10,579,912 total disposed tons of waste.
https://www.cityworks.com/

On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65 to $75 to incinerate it.
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/

Recycling aluminium can help to save a great deal of energy; in fact, enough to run your home television for about three hours!
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/

Aluminium used to be more valuable than gold many years ago.
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/

Recycling is a $200 billion industry in the U.S.
https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/

Recycling generates 7-10 more jobs that landfills and waste to energy plants.
https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/

Recycling one ton of paper saves 682.5 gallons of oil, 7,000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
https://www.indiatimes.com/

Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60 W bulb for up to 6 hours.
https://www.indiatimes.com/

Thousands of marine creatures die by mistakenly swallowing plastic bags that resemble jellyfish.
https://www.indiatimes.com/

The average paper usage per person is around 700 pounds per year.
https://www.rts.com/

28 billion glass bottles and jars go to landfill each year.
https://www.rts.com/

Britain’s target to recycle 50 per cent of waste from households by 2020 was missed
https://www.thenationalnews.com/
Fact 1: Recycling is a process to create new items from old and used materials. This helps in reducing energy and potentially useful materials from being wasted.
Fact 2: Recycling is a part of the waste disposal hierarchy – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Fact 3: On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65 to $75 to incinerate it.

Fact 4: Variety of raw materials including paper, plastic, metal, glass, electronics and textiles, can be recycled.

Aluminium Facts

Fact 5:  Aluminum can be recycled forever without any loss of quality.

Fact 6: Aluminium cans can actually be recycled and put back onto the shelf at your local grocery store in just about 2 months.

Fact 7: Aluminium cans are probably the most recycled item, at least in the United States. While this is true, you can also recycle other forms of aluminium as well.

Fact 8: Recycling aluminium can help to save a great deal of energy; in fact, enough to run your home television for about three hours!

Fact 9: Most beverage cans are made up of aluminium, even though there are other products that go into it as well.

Fact 10: If you throw away your aluminium cans, they can stay in that can form for up to 500 years or more – so recycling is the way to go.

Fact 11: You can recycle aluminium over and over again, and there is really no limit to it.

Fact 12: There are over 80 billion aluminium cans used each and every year around the world.

Fact 13: Aluminium used to be more valuable than gold many years ago.

Fact 14: The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 aluminium cans in their life.

Fact 15:  Aluminum can be recycled using only 5% of the energy used to make the product from new.

Tree Facts

Fact 16: Half a million trees have to be cut down just to produce the Sunday newspapers each week.

Fact 17: Recycling a single day’s worth of the New York Times could save 75,000 trees or more.

See also  Can You Recycle Fiber Optic Cable? (And Various Uses of it?)

Fact 18: If we recycled all newspapers, we could save over 250 million trees each and every year.

Fact 19: Most people in America use at least seven trees each year, through wood, paper and other types of products that use trees. That is over 2 trillion trees throughout the course of the year when you think about it.

Fact 20: Due to the fact that people aren’t recycling as much as they should, the rainforests are actually getting cut down by about 100 acres a minute.

Paper Facts

Fact 21: Each American uses around 680 pounds or 85 million tons of paper each year, and most people just throw it away instead of recycling it for further use.

Fact 22:  Recycling just one ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water.

Fact 23: 2000 pounds of recycled paper can actually help to save 17 trees, over 350 gallons of oil, and a lot of landfill space. That also means less air pollution!

Fact 24: The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year.

Fact 25: 70% of the total waste in offices is paper waste.

Fact 26:  American businesses use around 21 million tons of paper – with about 750,000 copies made every minute.

Fact 27: Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown in the US every year.

Fact 28: 24 trees are cut down to make 1 ton of newspaper. Recycling a stack of newspapers just 3 feet high saves one tree

Fact 29:  Approximately 100 billion cardboard boxes are produced each year in the US.

Fact 30:  Over 90% of all products shipped in the US are shipped in corrugated boxes, which makes up more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard.

Fact 31:  Around 80% of retailers and grocers recycle cardboard.

Fact 32:  70% of corrugated cardboard is recovered for recycling.

Fact 33:  Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard.

Fact 34:  One ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil.

Fact 35:  One ton of recycled cardboard saves 9 cubic yards of landfill space.

Environment Facts

Fact 36: Recycling helps to conserve energy, and as a result, less greenhouse gases are emitted.

Fact 37: Recycling helps to conserve our natural resources like coal, oil and gas.

Fact 38: Recycled paper produces approximately 70% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.

Plastic Facts

Fact 39: Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.

See also  Are Sanitary Pads Recyclable? (And Are They Biodegradable?)

Fact 40: Americans will use over 2 and a half million plastic bottles every thirty minutes, and most of them are simply thrown away rather than recycled.

Fact 41: Only 23% of disposable water bottles are recycled.

Fact 42: Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

Fact 43: Plastic bags and garbage that are thrown into the ocean have a devastating effect on sea animals.

Fact 44: Plastic bags that are thrown into the ocean can kill over a million sea creatures a year.

Fact 45: Over 25 trillion Styrofoam coffee cups are thrown away each year, just by Americans!

Fact 46: Styrofoam produced from Polystyrene never decomposes. The world produces more than 14 million tons of Polystyrene (plastic foam) each year.

Fact 47: Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline.

Fact 48: Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.

Fact 49: Recycling plastic takes 88% less energy than making it from raw materials.

Fact 50: Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves the equivalent energy usage of a two-person household for one year.

Glass Facts

Fact 51: Glass jars can be recycled, but there are many that are just thrown away.

Fact 52:  Glass can be recycled and re-manufactured an infinite amount of times and never wear out.

Fact 53: Glass is 100% recyclable and can be used again and again. Glass recycling is separated into colors because glass retains its color even after recycling.

Fact 54:  More than 28 billion glass bottles and jars go to landfills every year. That’s enough to fill two Empire State Buildings every three weeks.

Fact 55:  A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose — and even longer if it’s in the landfill.

Fact 56: Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

Landfill Facts

Fact 57: Over 60% of the trash that ends in the dustbin could be recycled.

Fact 58: Recycling helps to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills, and as a result, less harmful emissions like methane gas are released into the earth’s atmosphere.

Fact 59:  The average person generates 4.4 pounds of solid waste every day.

Fact 60: A modern glass bottle could take over 4000 years to actually decompose, and if it is in the landfill then it will probably take even longer than that.

Fact 61: Most dumps are made up of a third of packaging materials that could be recycled.

See also  Are VHS Tapes Recyclable? (And What To Do With Old Tapes)

Fact 62: Each year, there are organic garbage thrown out that could be composted and recycled to use for fertilizer for the ground rather than pollutants.

Fact 63:  In 2014, the US generated 258 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW).

Fact 64: The most thrown away products in America include diapers, pens, razor blades, tires and aluminium – all of which can be used to be recycled into other products.

Fact 65: About 11 million tons of textiles end up in US landfills each year — an average of about 70 pounds per person.

Fact 66:  Americans generate an additional 5 million tons of waste throughout the holidays.

Fact 67:  Americans throw away enough trash in an average year to circle the earth 24 times.

Fact 68: The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it. However, 94% of the US population has access to some type of recycling program.

Fact 69: Most people produce 4.4 pounds of trash per day, which results in about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year.

Fact 70: The amount of wood and paper that are thrown each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.

Fact 71: One drip one second from a leaky faucet wastes 540 gallons of water a year.

E-Waste Facts

Fact 72: In 2007, 1.8 million tons of e-waste ended up in landfills.

Fact 73: Electronic waste totals approximately 2% of the waste stream in the US.
Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard

2. Over 90% of all products shipped in the U.S. are packaged in corrugated boxes, which makes up more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard
8. Nearly half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste—approximately 3,000 pounds per second

9. Only about 5% of food is diverted from landfill

10. The U.S. produces approximately 34 million tons of food waste each year

11. Food scraps make up almost 12% of municipal solid waste generated in the U.S.

12. In 2015, about 137.7 million tons of MSW were landfilled. Food was the largest component at about 22%

 

13. 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour in America

14. Recycling plastic takes 88% less energy than making it from raw materials

15. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times

16. Only 23% of disposable water bottles are recycled

17. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose

18. Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline

19. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator

20. Styrofoam never decomposes

21. The world produces more than 14 million tons of Polystyrene (plastic foam) each year

22. Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves the equivalent energy usage of a two person household for one year

23. A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in landfill

24. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity

25. More than 28 billion glass bottles and jars go to landfills every year. That's enough to fill two Empire State Buildings every three weeks

26. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt lightbulb for four hours

27. Americans use 85 million tons of paper per year which is about 680 pounds per person

28. 70% of the total waste in offices is paper waste

29. Recycling one ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water

30. The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year

31. American businesses use around 21 million tons of paper - with about 750,000 copies made every minute

32. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 mature trees

33. Recycling a stack of newspaper just 3 feet high saves one tree

34. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

35. The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans in their life

36. An aluminum can can be recycled and back on a grocery store shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days

37. Aluminum can be recycled forever without any loss of quality

38. Aluminum can be recycled using only 5% of the energy used to make the product from new materials

39. Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours

40. Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year 

41. About 11 million tons of textiles end up in U.S. landfills each year — an average of about 70 pounds per person

42. In 2007, 1.8 million tons of e-waste ended up in landfills

43. The average person generates 4.4 pounds of solid waste every day

44. In 2014, The U.S. generated 258 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW)

45. The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it

46. 94% of the U.S. population has access to some type of recycling program

47. Americans generate an additional 5 million tons of waste throughout the holidays

48. Americans throw away enough trash in an average year to circle the earth 24 times. 

49. Electronic waste totals approximately 2% of the waste stream in the U.S

50. On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65 to $75 to incinerate it

We throw away 4.51 pounds of garbage per person per day. 

According to an EPA study conducted in 2017, it is estimated that each person in the U.S. throws out the equivalent of 4.51 pounds of waste per day. That ends up being 267.8 million tonnes of waste each year across the country!

The peak estimated waste per person per day was in 2000 at 4.74 pounds and has since fluctuated up and down depending on the state of the economy and recessions. We have not yet through managed to create a downward trend in our waste production across multiple years. We are producing more and more waste.

This waste happens at the production level, the retail level, and the consumer level. It is estimated that 40% of the food wasted in developed countries is at the consumer level. In North America, we throw out almost the same amount of food at the consumer level (i.e. in our homes) as is produced in total in sub-Saharah Africa. In other words, we throw out enough food to replace what is grown in 46 countries...

In the U.S. the EPA estimates that only a fraction of the food we waste will actually be composted, either through industrial composting facilities or backyard compost bins. That means we are sending 93.5% of our lost food through the garbage system. 

The EPA details that in 2017 landfilled trash consisted of 21.9% food, 8.9% wood, and 6.4% yard trimmings. That's not even taking into consideration the paper and cardboard that also could have been composted! By implementing widespread and comprehensive composting programs, we have the potential to eliminate over a third of our landfilled waste. That much waste has a huge carbon footprint, financial footprint, and community footprint - when it could be so much smaller!

If you had been holding out hope that having 35% of our landfills filled with organic material wasn't all that bad, I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Unlike the commonly held belief, organic material and food won't actually decompose in landfills because it doesn't have sufficient access to oxygen. When it tries to degrade without oxygen, it produces the toxic gas methane which is a potent greenhouse gas and can cause landfill explosions, endangering workers.

Race is the deciding factor for where a landfill will be placed, even when taking into account differences in geography, poverty, and location to large metropolitan areas. Movements like Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) have gained traction in white communities and continued to push landfills into communities of color. 

If you have been faithfully believing that recycling was the solution to our plastic problem, I hate to disappoint you but it's not. Recycling has not been comprehensively or successfully implemented. It has become a green washing technique by large businesses to market their product as "recyclable" and stop there. 

If you think the trash in your community and streets is bad, try comparing it to what the fish have to live through. There is a huge portion of our waste that doesn't even end up in landfills. Our water ways are frequently the dumping grounds for fishing nets, toxic chemicals, and litter. 

In just the last 30 years we have managed to kill off half of the coral reefs on our planet. Coral reefs are dying because the waters around them are heating up, which they aren't able to adapt to. The climate crisis is directly causing this rise in temperature and unless addressed, 90% of coral reefs could be extinct by 2050. You can watch the documentary Chasing Coral if you want to learn more.

11. We have a per person carbon footprint in the U.S. of 16.2 tonnes CO2.

That number is three times higher than the global average of only 4.8 tonnes. Carbon footprints are impacted by what we buy, whether we travel, how much we waste, and the types of programs and environmental protections our government provides. Overall, the U.S. isn't doing very well in any of those categories.

In 2017 the EPA estimated that 11.2 million tonnes of textiles were sent to landfills in the U.S. Another 5 million tonnes were recycled and an unknown amount was donated to thrift shops. Clothes can take years to become truly "unwearable", but people throw them out with tiny holes or when they simply don’t like the style anymore. With many people in our communities living on the streets without access to warm clothes, why would we throw them in the trash?

The holidays are a serious time of consumption in the US! Between Black Friday, Christmas, and New Years, we waste food, buy junky gifts, and decorate our houses with disposable decorations. Instead of waiting to tackle your household waste in January once all the madness has passed, challenge yourself to take it on during the most wasteful time of the year.

We have been misinformed to believe that the recycling symbol on the bottom of most plastics means that you can place that item in your curbside bin. Where as, in fact, every type of plastic has one of those symbols with a number inside. The number simply tells you what type of plastic it is. You will only know if that specific type of plastic (and shape and size and weight and color) is actually recyclable in your neighborhood by visiting your local waste management website. 

Overshoot day marks the day when we have consumed worldwide more resources than the earth can regenerate in a year. Basically, we are currently exceeding what our earth can sustain and consuming at a rate of 1.75 earths per year. The only reason we don't notice our over consumption is that the earth has been around for millions of years and built up a reserve. That reserve of resources won't last forever though.

When we treat our oceans like a waste bin, all the plastic ends up breaking down and contaminating the environment. Our salt too becomes contaminated with tiny reminders of our plastic habit. Soon our own bodies may well show traces of plastic building up inside us!

In the U.S., we are doing even worse. Back in 2013, only 5.4% of our energy came from sources like wind, solar, and hydro power. Fossil fuels continue to be the primary energy source worldwide, which is a waste of that resource.

Compared to white individuals, people of color are 13% more likely to live near a noxious industrial facility which can cause adverse reactions such as asthma. A study found that people living near this type of facility were 66% more likely to be hospitalized because of asthma. You can read more about environmental racism in the book A Terrible Thing to Waste by Harriet Washington.

Housing the by-product of fracking, these wells are disasters waiting to happen. If they crack or begin to leak, the groundwater that these communities depend on could be contaminated and unsafe to drink. Do we really trust the fossil fuel industry to regulate itself when they have had so many horrible oil spills in recent history? And these risks are disproportionately placed on communities of color.

Leachate is made up of hazardous waste, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds. It's basically the liquid run-off from all the junk we toss into a big pile. Although landfills now are designed to limit leachate leaking into the environment, in 2011 a landfill in San Jose was fined $800,000 when leachate was discovered spilling into a local stream. 

EPA began collecting and reporting data on the generation and disposition of waste in the United States more than 35 years ago. The Agency uses this information to measure the success of materials management programs across the country and to characterize the national waste stream. These Facts and Figures are current through calendar year 2018.

The total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons (U.S. short tons, unless specified) or 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of the MSW generated, approximately 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted. Together,  almost 94 million tons of MSW were recycled and composted, equivalent to a 32.1 percent recycling and composting rate. An additional 17.7 million tons of food were managed by other methods. Other food management includes the following management pathways: animal feed, bio-based materials/biochemical processing, co-digestion/anaerobic digestion, donation, land application and sewer/wastewater treatment. For more information on food management, check out Food: Material-Specific Data. In addition, nearly 35 million tons of MSW (11.8 percent) were combusted with energy recovery and more than 146 million tons of MSW (50 percent) were landfilled.

EPA refers to trash, or MSW, as various items consumers throw away after they are used. These items include bottles and corrugated boxes, food, grass clippings, sofas, computers, tires and refrigerators. However, MSW does not include everything that may be landfilled at the local level,  such as construction and demolition (C&D) debris, municipal wastewater sludge, and other non-hazardous industrial wastes. While the analysis in Facts and Figures focuses primarily on MSW, EPA has been including estimates of C&D generation and management as a separate non-hazardous waste stream in recent years.


MSW generation rose considerably from 2017 to 2018 mainly because EPA enhanced its food measurement methodology to more fully account for all the ways wasted food is managed throughout the food system.

Management of MSW continues to be a high priority for state and local governments. This includes the source reduction of wastes before they enter the waste stream and the recovery of generated waste for recycling, composting or other methods. It also includes environmentally sound waste management through combustion with energy recovery and conversion, as well as landfilling practices that meet current standards or newly emerging waste conversion technologies.

EPA developed the non-hazardous materials and waste management hierarchy in recognition that no single waste management approach is suitable for managing all materials and waste streams in all circumstances. The hierarchy ranks the various management strategies from most to least environmentally preferred. The hierarchy places emphasis on reducing, reusing, and recycling as key to sustainable materials management.


Municipal Solid Waste Management: 1960-2018

Per capita MSW generation increased from 4.5 pounds per person per day in 2017 to 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018. The increase from 2017 to 2018 is mainly the result of EPA’s inclusion of additional wasted food management pathways. Check out Food: Material-Specific Data.

Paper and paperboard products made up the largest percentage of all the materials in MSW, at 23.1 percent of total generation. Generation of paper and paperboard products declined from 87.7 million tons in 2000 to 67.4 million tons in 2018. Generation of newspapers has been declining since 2000, and this trend is expected to continue, partly due to decreased page size, but mainly due to the increased digitization of news. The generation of office-type (high grade) papers also has been in decline, due at least partially to activities such as the increased use of the electronic transmission of reports. Paper and paperboard products have ranged between 28.4 and 23.1 percent of generation since 2010.

Food waste comprised the fourth largest material category, estimated at 63.1 million tons or 21.6 percent of total generation in 2018. Yard trimmings comprised the next largest material category, estimated at 35.4 million tons, or 12.1 percent of total generation, in 2018. This compares to 35 million tons (16.8 percent of total generation) in 1990. The decline in yard trimmings generation since 1990 is largely due to state legislation discouraging yard trimmings disposal in landfills, including source reduction measures such as backyard composting and leaving grass trimmings on the yard.

In 2018, plastic products generation was 35.7 million tons, or 12.2 percent of generation. This was an increase of 4.3 million tons from 2010 to 2018, and it came from durable goods and the containers and packaging categories. Plastics generation has grown from 8.2 percent of generation in 1990 to 12.2 percent in 2018. Plastics generation as a percent of total generation has varied from 12.2 to 13.2 percent over the past eight years.

In 2018, 2.7 million tons of selected consumer electronics were generated, representing less than 1 percent of MSW generation. Selected consumer electronics include products such as TVs, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, stereo systems, telephones and computer equipment.


Composting/Other Food Management

The total MSW composted was 25 million tons. This included approximately 22.3 million tons of yard trimmings (more than a five-fold increase since 1990) and 2.6 million tons of food waste (4.1 percent of generation of wasted food).

Other methods of food management were estimated for the first time in 2018. In 2018, 17.7 million tons of food (28.1 percent of generation of wasted food) was managed through animal feed, co-digestion/anaerobic digestion, bio-based materials/biochemical processing, donation, land application and sewer/wastewater treatment.


In 2018, 34.6 million tons of MSW were combusted with energy recovery. Food made up the largest component of MSW combusted at approximately 22 percent. Rubber, leather and textiles accounted for over 16 percent of MSW combustion. Plastics comprised about 16 percent, and paper and paperboard made up about 12 percent. The other materials accounted for less than 10 percent each.


In 2018, the amount of MSW generated was 292.4 million tons. The amount of MSW recycled was 69.0 million tons and the amount composted was 24.9 million tons. About 17.7 million tons of food were managed by other methods. The amount of MSW combusted with energy recovery was 34.6 million tons, while the amount of MSW sent to landfills was 146.2 million tons. Presented below are details of these trends:

Recycling and Composting Trends

In percentage of total MSW generation, recycling (including composting) did not exceed 15 percent until 1990. Growth in the recycling rate was significant over the next 15 years, spanning until 2005. The recycling rate grew more slowly over the last few years. The 2018 recycling rate was 32.1 percent.

The recycling and composting rates (as a percentage of generation) of the below materials in MSW has mostly increased over the last 58 years. Read over the table below for examples.


Recycling, Composting and Other Food Management Trends Specific to 2015-2018

Included in the generation number are the almost 94 million tons of MSW recycled and composted and an additional 17.7 million tons of other food management in 2018. The following provides a detailed breakdown of the numbers:

Listed here are the recycling or composting rates for three categories of materials, including paper and paperboard, yard trimmings, and food:

Greenhouse Gas Benefits

EPA’s report Sustainable Materials Management: The Road Ahead serves as the foundation for the EPA SMM Program. The recommendations and analytical framework under the Road Ahead encourage the consideration of multiple environmental benefits when developing materials management strategies. Currently, EPA has a tool for estimating greenhouse gas reductions resulting from sustainable materials management – the Waste Reduction Model (WARM). This section shows those GHG reduction environmental benefits. The Agency is developing additional tools to provide information on other environmental benefits and will include these tools and data as they become available.


It’s almost like a landmark in East Delhi’s Ghazipur area – a 50 feet tall mountain of garbage. This is one of India’s largest landfills and paints a symbolic picture of one of the biggest problems plaguing the country. India is almost drowning in the garbage it generates. From solid urban waste to sewage to chemical or industrial waste – every type of waste is mismanaged and has become a mammoth problem in the face of rapid urbanization.


Waste People Generate |  India’s urban population of 429 million citizens produce a whopping 62 million tonnes of garbage every year. Out of this, 5.6 million tonnes is the plastic waste, 0.17 million tonnes is the biomedical waste, 7.90 million tonnes is hazardous waste and 15 lakh tonnes is e-waste. A staggering figure of forty-three million tonnes of Solid Waste is collected annually, out of which only 11.9 million, that is 22-28% is treated, while about 31 million tonnes of waste is left untreated and dumped at the landfill sites.



Mumbai: Has only 3 dumping grounds to handle the 9,600 metric tonnes of waste generated daily. The major landfill Deonar in this metro is about 90-year-old and is on the verge of collapsing. The garbage heaps here is as tall as a five- or six-storey building, standing 15 metres high. Another landfill at Mulund has been functional since 1968. It’s spread across 25 hectares and is also way past its use-by date.

India’s Ever-growing Landfills | India’s landfills are bursting at the seams and overflowing with items that shouldn’t be thrown in the trash. More than 70% of collected urban waste is dumped straight into the landfills. As a result most of them are brimming and are way past their limit.

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