For 30 years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has collected and reported data on the waste we generate, throw away, and recycle. Municipal Solid Waste is made up of things that residents and businesses commonly use and throw away and does not include industrial, hazardous, or construction waste. The 2008 facts and figures show some interesting trends, positive improvements, and things that we can all do better. Here’s a summary: 
- In 2008 we generated about 250 million tons of trash. That translates to about 4.5 pounds of trash a day for every American.
- We throw away about 19% more stuff than we did in 1980 and a whopping 44% more than we did in 1960. Since 1990 our waste generation has stayed about the same.
- Organic materials are the largest component of municipal solid waste. Paper and paperboard account for 31% and yard trimmings and food scraps account for 26%.
- Over the decades our waste generation has grown, but our recycling rate has also increased from less than 10% in 1980 to more than 33% in 2008.
- Recycling and composting 83 million tons of waste in 2008 reduced CO2 emissions equivalent to keeping 33 million passenger vehicles off the road.
- About 8,660 curbside recycling programs exist in the U.S., down from 8,875 in 2002.
- The amount of trash we send to landfills has declined from 89% in 1980 to 54% in 2008.
- We recover only about one-third of our nondurable goods. Those are the things that generally last less than three years. We do a pretty good job recycling newspapers (88% recycled), cardboard (77%) and high-grade office papers (71%).
- Only 40% of magazines and unwanted advertising mail are recycled – the rest still goes to the landfill.
- 80% of phone books are sent to the landfill.
Our strategy for waste prevention is to stop the waste at the source. We love recycling, but precycling is even better. So encourage your friends, neighbors and co-workers to do their part to reduce the generation of waste in the first place. Step 1 – sign up for Catalog Choice and opt-out of unwanted mail and phonebooks.
