EPA-530-S-03-011
Municipal Solid Waste in
The United States:
2001 Facts and Figures
Executive Summary
G e n e r
Reduction
Disposal
<& Printed on paper that contains at least 50 percent postconsumer fiber.
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Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response (5305W)
EPA530-S-03-011
www.epa.gov
October 2003
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Executive Summary
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
IN THE UNITED STATES: 2001 FACTS AND FIGURES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OVERVIEW
This report describes the national municipal solid waste (MSW) stream based on data
collected for 1960 through 2001. The historical perspective is useful for establishing trends in
types of MSW generated and in the ways it is managed. In this Executive Summary, we briefly
describe the methodology used to characterize MSW in the United States and provide the latest
facts and figures on MSW generation, recycling, and disposal.
In the United States, we generated approximately 229.2 million tons of MSW in 2001—a
decrease of 2.8 million tons from 2000. This is a decrease of 1.2 percent from 2000 to 2001.
Excluding composting, the amount of MSW recovered for recycling increased to 51.4 million
tons, an increase of 0.2 million tons from 2000. This is a 0.4 percent increase in the tons
recycled. The tons recovered for composting rose slightly to 16.6 million tons in 2001, up from
16.5 million tons in 2000. The recovery rate for recycling (including composting) was 29.7
percent in 2001, up from 29.2 percent in 2000.1 (See Tables ES-1 and ES-2 and Figures ES-1 and
ES-2.)
MSW generation in 2001 declined to 4.4 pounds per person per day. This is a decrease of
2.2 percent from 2000 to 2001. The recycling rate in 2001 was 1.3 pounds per person per day.
Discards after recycling declined to 3.1 pounds per person per day in 2001 (Table ES-3).
1 Data shown for 2000 have been adjusted to reflect the latest revisions and, therefore, may differ from the
same measure reported previously. For example, the percentage of MSW recovered for recycling has been revised
downward from 30.1 percent to 29.2 percent.
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Executive Summary
Table ES-1
GENERATION, MATERIALS RECOVERY, COMPOSTING,
AND DISCARDS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, 1960 - 2001
(In millions of tons)
Millions of tons
Generation
Recovery for recycling
Recovery for composting*
Total Materials Recovery
Discards after Recovery
1960
88.1
5.6
Neg.
5.6
82.5
1970
121.1
8.0
Neg.
8.0
113.0
1980
151.6
14.5
Neg.
14.5
137.1
1990
205.2
29.0
4.2
33.2
172.0
1995
213.7
46.2
9.6
55.8
158.0
1999
231.4
50.8
14.7
65.5
165.9
2000
232.0
51.2
16.5
67.7
164.3
2001
229.2
51.4
16.6
68.0
161.2
* Composting of yard trimmings, food scraps and other MSW organic material.
Does not include backyard composting.
Details may not add to totals due to rounding.
Source: Franklin Associates. Ltd.
Table ES-2
GENERATION, MATERIALS RECOVERY, COMPOSTING,
AND DISCARDS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, 1960 - 2001
(In percent of total generation)
Percent of total generation
Generation
Recovery for recycling
Recovery for composting*
Total Materials Recovery
Discards after Recovery
1960
100.0%
6.4%
Neg.
6.4%
93.6%
1970
100.0%
6.6%
Neg.
6.6%
93.4%
1980
100.0%
9.6%
Neg.
9.6%
90.4%
1990
100.0%
14.2%
2.0%
16.2%
83.8%
1995
100.0%
21.6%
4.5%
26.1%
73.9%
1999
100.0%
22.0%
6.4%
28.4%
71.6%
2000
100.0%
22.1%
7.1%
29.2%
70.8%
2001
100.0%
22.4%
7.2%
29.7%
70.3%
* Composting of yard trimmings, food scraps and other MSW organic material.
Does not include backyard composting.
Details may not add to totals due to rounding.
Source: Franklin Associates, Ltd.
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Total MSW recycling (million tons)
Total MSW generation (million tons)
I
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pa
05
O5
re
o
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33
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Percent of generation recycled
Per capita generation (Ibs/person/day)
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Executive Summary
Table ES-3
GENERATION, MATERIALS RECOVERY, COMPOSTING
AND DISCARDS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, 1960 - 2001
(In pounds per person per day)
Pounds
Generation
Recovery for recycling
Recovery for composting*
Total Materials Recovery
Discards after Recovery
Population (millions)
1960
2.68
0.17
Neg.
0.17
2.51
179.979
1970
3.25
0.22
Neg.
0.22
3.03
203.984
aer person per day
1980
3.66
0.35
Neg.
0.35
3.31
227.255
1990
4.50
0.64
0.09
0.73
3.77
249.907
1995
4.45
0.96
0.20
1.16
3.29
263.168
1999
4.65
1.02
0.30
1.32
3.32
272.691
2000
4.52
1.00
0.32
1.32
3.20
281.422
2001
4.41
0.99
0.32
1.31
3.10
284.797
* Composting of yard trimmings, food scraps and other MSW organic material.
Does not include backyard composting.
Details may not add to totals due to rounding.
Source: Franklin Associates, Ltd.
The state of the economy has a strong impact on consumption and waste generation.
Waste generation continued to increase through the 1990s as economic growth continued to be
strong. Between 1999 and 2000, total MSW generation increased only slightly. Between 2000
and 2001 total MSW generation decreased 1.2 percent, and this can be attributed, to a great
extent, to a decline in production of paper and paperboard of 5.7 percent.
(Paper industry production is very sensitive to economic factors, and 2001 was not a good
year for the industry.) At the same time, recovery of products (including paper and paperboard)
increased slightly in 2001, and therefore a recycling rate of 29.7 percent was achieved in spite of
the slowdown in the economy. The paper and paperboard recovery, as a percent of generation,
increased from 42.3 percent to 44.9 percent in 2001. Export markets continued to play a major
role in paper and paperboard recovery.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE?
MSW—otherwise known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items such as product
packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, and
batteries. Not included are materials that also may be disposed in landfills, but are not generally
considered MSW, such as construction and demolition debris, municipal wastewater treatment
sludges, and non-hazardous industrial wastes.
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Executive Summary
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE IN PERSPECTIVE
Trends Over Time
Over the last few decades, the generation, recycling, and disposal of MSW have changed
substantially (see Tables ES-1, ES-2, and ES-3 and Figures ES-1 and ES-2). MSW generation
has continued to increase from 1960, when it was 88 million tons. The generation rate in 1960
was just 2.7 pounds per person per day; it grew to 3.7 pounds per person per day in 1980; reached
4.5 pounds per person per day in 1990; and it stabilized at 4.4 pounds per person per day in 2001
after increasing through the 1990s.
Over time, recycling rates have increased from 10 percent of MSW generated in 1980 to
16 percent in 1990, to 29.7 percent in 2001. Disposal has decreased from 90 percent of the
amount generated in 1980 to 70 percent of MSW in 2001. This compares to 71 percent in 2000.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE IN 2001
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has two ways of analyzing the 229.2
million tons of MSW generated in 2001. The first is by material (paper and paperboard, yard
trimmings, food scraps, plastics, metals, glass, wood, rubber, leather and textiles, and other); the
second is by several major product categories. The product-based categories are containers and
packaging; nondurable goods (e.g., newspapers) durable goods (e.g., appliances); food scraps;
and other materials.
Materials in MSW
A breakdown, by weight, of the MSW materials generated in 2001 is provided in Figure
ES-3. Paper and paperboard products made up the largest component of MSW generated (36
percent), and yard trimmings comprised the second-largest component (12 percent). Glass,
metals, plastics, wood, and food scraps each constituted between 5 and 12 percent of the total
MSW generated. Rubber, leather, and textiles combined made up about 7 percent of MSW, while
other miscellaneous wastes made up approximately 3 percent of the MSW generated in 2001.
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Executive Summary
Figure ES-3: 2001 Total MSW Generation - 229 Million Tons
(Before Recycling)
Rubber, leather & textiles
71% J
Plastics 11 1%
| Glass 5.5%]
A portion of each material category in MSW was recycled or composted in 2001. The
highest rates of recovery were achieved with yard trimmings, paper products, and metal products.
About 57 percent (15.8 million tons) of yard trimmings were recovered for composting in 2001.
This represents nearly a four-fold increase since 1990. About 45 percent (36.7 million tons) of
paper and paperboard were recovered for recycling in 2001. Recycling these organic materials
alone diverted nearly 23 percent of municipal solid waste from landfills and combustion
facilities. In addition, about 6.3 million tons, or about 35 percent, of metals were recovered for
recycling. Recycling rates for all materials categories in 2001 are listed in Table ES-4.
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Executive Summary
Table ES-4
GENERATION AND RECOVERY OF MATERIALS IN MSW, 2001
(In millions of tons and percent of generation of each material)
Paper and paperboard
Glass
Metals
Steel
Aluminum
Other nonferrous metals*
Total metals
Plastics
Rubber and leather
Textiles
Wood
Other materials
Total Materials in Products
Other wastes
Food, other**
Yard trimmings
Miscellaneous inorganic wastes
Total Other Wastes
TOTAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
Weight
Generated
81.9
12.6
13.5
3.2
1.4
18.1
25.4
6.5
9.8
13.2
4.2
171.5
26.2
28.0
3.5
57.7
229.2
Weight
Recovered
36.7
2.4
4.6
0.8
0.9
6.3
1.4
1.1
1.4
1.3
0.9
51.4
0.7
15.8
Neg.
16.6
68.0
Recovery as
a Percent
of Generation
44.9%
19.1%
33.8%
24.5%
64.8%
34.5%
5.5%
17.4%
14.6%
9.5%
20.7%
30.0%
2.8%
56.5%
Neg.
28.7%
29.7%
Includes waste from residential, commercial, and institutional sources.
* Includes lead from lead-acid batteries.
** Includes recovery of other MSW organics for composting.
Neg. = Less than 5,000 tons or 0.05 percent.
Source: Franklin Associates, Ltd.
Products in MSW
The breakdown, by weight, of product categories generated in 2001 is shown in Figure
ES-4. Containers and packaging comprised the largest portion of products generated, at 32.0
percent (74 million tons) of total MSW generation. Nondurable goods were the second-largest
fraction, comprising 26.4 percent (60 million tons). The third-largest category of products is
durable goods, which comprised 16.4 percent (38 million tons) of total MSW generation.
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Executive Summary
Figure ES-4: Products Generated in MSW - 2001
(Total Weight = 229 million tons)
Containers & Packaging
32.0%
The generation and recovery of the product categories in MSW in 2001 are shown in
Table ES-5. This table shows that recovery of containers and packaging was the highest of the
three product categories—38 percent of containers and packaging generated in 2001 were
recovered for recycling. About 49 percent of all aluminum cans were recovered (40 percent of all
aluminum packaging, including foil), while 59 percent of steel packaging (mostly cans) was
recovered. Paper and paperboard containers and packaging were recovered at a rate of 55
percent; corrugated containers accounted for most of that amount.
Approximately 22 percent of glass containers were recovered, while about 15 percent of
wood packaging (mostly wood pallets re-moved from service) was recovered for recycling.
About 10 percent of plastic containers and packaging were recovered, mostly soft drink, milk,
and water bottles.
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Executive Summary
Table ES-5
GENERATION AND RECOVERY OF PRODUCTS IN MSW
BY MATERIAL, 2001
(In millions of tons and percent of generation of each product)
Durable Goods
Steel
Aluminum
Other non-ferrous metals*
Total metals
Glass
Plastics
Rubber and leather
Wood
Textiles
Other materials
Total durable goods
Nondurable Goods
Paper and paperboard
Plastics
Rubber and leather
Textiles
Other materials
Total nondurable goods
Containers and Packaging
Steel
Aluminum
Total metals
Glass
Paper and paperboard
Plastics
Wood
Other materials
Total containers and packaging
Other wastes
Food, other**
Yard trimmings
Miscellaneous inorganic wastes
Total Other Wastes
TOTAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
Weight
Generated
10.9
1.0
1.4
13.3
1.7
8.0
5.6
5.0
2.9
1.2
37.6
43.5
6.1
0.9
6.7
3.2
60.4
2.6
2.0
4.6
10.9
38.4
11.2
8.2
0.2
73.5
26.2
28.0
3.5
57.7
229.2
Weight
Recovered
3.0
Neg.
0.9
4.0
Neg.
0.3
1.1
Neg.
0.3
0.9
6.6
15.6
Neg.
Neg.
1.1
Neg.
16.7
1.5
0.8
2.3
2.4
21.1
1.1
1.3
Neg.
28.1
0.7
15.8
Neg.
16.5
68.0
Recovery as
a Percent
of Generation
27.8%
Neg.
64.8%
29.6%
Neg.
3.9%
20. 1 %
Neg.
11.8%
73.7%
17.5%
35.9%
Neg.
Neg.
16.1%
Neg.
27.7%
58.8%
40.0%
50.8%
22.0%
55.0%
9.6%
15.2%
Neg.
38.3%
2.8%
56.5%
Neg.
28.7%
29.7%
Includes waste from residential, commercial, and institutional sources.
* Includes lead from lead-acid batteries.
** Includes recovery of other MSW organics for composting.
Details may not add to totals due to rounding.
Neg. = Less than 5,000 tons or 0.05 percent.
Source: Franklin Associates, Ltd.
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Executive Summary
Overall recovery of nondurable goods was 27.7 percent in 2001. Most of this recovery
comes from paper products such as newspapers and high-grade office papers (e.g., white papers).
Newspapers constituted the largest portion of this recovery, with 60 percent of newspapers
generated being recovered for recycling. An estimated 55 percent of high-grade office papers and
32 percent of magazines were recovered in 2001. Newspaper and high-grade office paper
recovery increased in percentage between 2000 and 2001. Magazine recovery remained the same.
Recovery percentage of other commercial printing increased to 22 percent. The other
paper products in the nondurable goods category decreased slightly between 2000 and 2001, with
Standard (A) mail* recovered at an estimated 32 percent, and directories at an estimated 15
percent.
The nondurable goods category also includes clothing and other textile products—14
percent of these products were recovered for recycling or export in 2001.
Overall, durable goods were recovered at a rate of 17.5 percent in 2001. Nonferrous
metals other than aluminum had one of the highest recovery rates, at 65 percent, due to the high
rate of lead recovery from lead-acid batteries. Recovery of steel in all durable goods was 27.8
percent, with high rates of recovery from appliances and other miscellaneous durable goods.
Thirty-nine percent of rubber in tires was recovered for recycling. (Other tires were retreaded and
shredded rubber tires were made into tire-derived fuel.)
One of the products with a very high recovery rate was lead-acid batteries, recovered at a
rate of 93.5 percent in 2001. Other products with particularly high recovery rates were steel from
major appliances (73.9 percent), corrugated boxes (70.1 percent), newspapers (60.2 percent),
steel cans (58.1 percent), and aluminum cans (49.0 percent).
RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL SOURCES OF MSW
Sources of MSW, as characterized in this report, include both residential and commercial
locations. We estimated residential waste (including waste from multi-family dwellings) to be 55
2
Standard (A) mail was formerly called Third Class mail by the U.S. Postal Service.
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Executive Summary
to 65 percent of total MSW generation. Commercial waste (including waste from schools, some
industrial sites where packaging is generated, and businesses) constitutes between 35 and 45
percent of MSW. Local and regional factors, such as climate and level of commercial activity,
contribute to these variations.
MANAGEMENT OF MSW
Overview
EPA's integrated waste management hierarchy includes the following three components,
listed in order of preference:
• Source reduction (or waste prevention), including reuse of products and onsite, or
backyard, composting of yard trimmings.
• Recycling, including offsite, or community, composting.
• Disposal, including waste combustion (preferably with energy recovery) and
landfilling.
Although EPA encourages the use of strategies that emphasize the top of the hierarchy whenever
possible, all three components remain important within an integrated waste management system.
Source Reduction
When EPA established its waste management hierarchy in 1989, it emphasized the
importance of reducing the amount of waste created, reusing whenever possible, and then
recycling what is left. When municipal solid waste is reduced and reused, this is called "source
reduction"—meaning the material never enters the waste stream. Instead it is managed at the
source of generation.
Source reduction, also called waste prevention, includes the design, manufacture,
purchase, or use of materials, such as products and packaging, to reduce their amount or toxicity
before they enter the MSW management system. Examples of source reduction activities are:
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Executive Summary
• Designing products or packaging to reduce the quantity or the toxicity of the
materials used, or to make them easy to reuse.
• Reusing existing products or packaging; for example, refillable bottles, reusable
pallets, and reconditioned barrels and drums.
• Lengthening the lives of products such as tires as fewer need to be produced and
therefore disposed of.
• Using packaging that reduces the amount of damage or spoilage to the product.
• Managing nonproduct organic wastes (e.g., food scraps, yard trimmings) through
onsite composting or other alternatives to disposal (e.g., leaving grass clippings on
the lawn).
As the nation has begun to realize the value of its resources, both financial and material,
efforts to reduce waste generation have increased. EPA has been able to estimate source
reduction for the nation based on economic and waste data. Table ES-6 shows that steady
progress was made in waste prevention since 1990. In 2000, the United States prevented more
than 55 million tons of municipal solid waste from entering the waste stream (using a 1990
baseline).
Table ES-6
SOURCE REDUCTION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE SINCE 1990
(In millions of tons)
Year
1992
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Million Tons
Source Reduced
0.6
8.0
21.4
31.0
31.8
37.3
42.8
55.1
* Source reduction estimates for 2001 are not included in this report. The impact to the 2001
MSW waste generation is expected to be similar to 2000.
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Executive Summary
The waste prevention achieved to date comes from all parts of the waste stream.
However, reducing the amount of yard trimmings is a particularly important source reduction
success story. Table ES-7 shows that almost half of the waste prevented in 2000 came from
organic waste materials, particularly yard trimmings. This is likely the result of many locally
enacted bans on the disposal of yard trimmings from landfills around the country, as well as
successful campaigns promoting onsite composting and the use of mulching lawn mowers.
Table ES-7
SOURCE REDUCTION BY MAJOR MATERIAL CATEGORIES, 2000
(In millions of tons)
Waste Stream
Durable Goods (e.g., appliances, furniture)
Nondurable Goods (e.g., newspapers, clothing)
Containers & Packaging (e.g., bottles, boxes)
Other MSW (e.g., yard trimmings, food scraps)
Total Source Reduction (1990 baseline)
Million Tons
Source Reduced
5,4
9.3
15.5
25.0
55.1
Prevention of waste other than yard trimmings has been important as well. Containers and
packaging represent approximately 28 percent of the materials source reduced in 2000, in
addition to nondurable goods (e.g., newspapers, clothing) at 17 percent, durable goods (e.g.,
appliances, furniture, tires) at 10 percent, and other MSW (e.g., yard trimmings, food scraps) at
45 percent.
Much of the nation's increase in waste generation in the 1990s was due to the booming
economy. As a group, Americans spent more, recycled more, and disposed more. However, the
United States made progress in the area of waste reduction and reuse, as indicated by the 55
million tons of source reduction in 2000, the latest year for which we have estimates available.
Had this source reduction not occurred, waste generation in 2000 would have risen from the
actual level, 232 million tons, to 287 million tons. Source reduction avoided an increase of nearly
25 percent.
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Executive Summary
Recycling
Recycling (including community composting) recovered 30 percent (68 million
tons) of MS Win 2001.
There were about 9,700 curbside recycling programs in the United States in 2001.
This is approximately 5 percent more than the 9,250 curbside recycling programs
identified in 2000. Much of this increase was in the western United States.
About 3,800 yard trimmings composting programs were reported in 2001.
Disposal
An estimated 14.7 percent of MSW was combusted in 2001, slightly higher than the 14.5
percent estimated in 2000. During 2001, about 55.7 percent of MSW was landfilled, down
somewhat from 56.3 percent in 2000. As shown in Figure ES-5, the number of municipal solid
waste landfills decreased substantially over the past 10 years, from nearly 8,000 in 1988 to 1,858
in 2001—while average landfill size increased. At the national level, capacity does not appear to
be a problem, although regional dislocations sometimes occur.
• The percentage of MSW landfilled decreased slightly from 2000 to 2001. Over the
long term, the tonnage of MSW landfilled in 1990 was 140.1 million tons, but
decreased to 122.4 million tons in 1995. The tonnage increased to 131.8 million
tons in 1999, then declined to 127.6 in 2001. The tonnage landfilled results from
an interaction among generation, recycling, and combustion, which do not
necessarily rise and fall at the same time.
• The net per capita discard rate (after recovery for recycling, including composting)
was 3.10 pounds per person per day, down from 3.20 pounds per person per day in
2000 (Table ES-3).
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Executive Summary
Figure ES-5: Number of Landfills in the U.S.
8000
4000
2000
1000
n
792*
7379
-
-
6326
-
581?
—
5386
4482
-
3558
- -
--
319'
3091
---
2514
pi 2314 2216
"_;.__ --FT -1967- -1858 _
-- - .. - -•>--" ['.-
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
MSW recovered for recycling (including composting) and disposed of by combustion and
landfilling in 2001 is shown in Figure ES-6. In 2001, 68.0 millions tons (29.7 percent) of MSW
were recycled, 33.6 million tons (14.7 percent) were combusted, and 127.6 million tons (55.7
percent) were landfilled or otherwise disposed. (Relatively small amounts of this total
undoubtedly were littered or illegally dumped rather than landfilled.)
Figure ES-6: Management of MSW in the U.S. - 2001
Land Disposal 55.7%
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Executive Summary
PERSPECTIVE FOR THE NATION
As economic growth results in more products and materials being generated, there will be
an increased need to invest in source reduction activities such as lightweighting of products and
packaging, reuse of products, grasscycling, and backyard composting. Also important will be
utilizing existing recycling and composting facilities, further developing this infrastructure, and
buying recycled products, to conserve resources and minimize our dependence on disposal
through combustion and landfilling.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
This report and related additional data are available on the Internet at
. Additional information on source reduction is available in National Source
Reduction Characterization Report for Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, EPA530-R-
99-034, November 1999.
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