The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 2009 report of the US municipal solid waste stream (MSW).
In 2009, the US generated 243 million tons of MSW, down from 251 million tons in 2008.
Of this, 82 million tons were recycled, representing a recycling rate of 33.8%. In addition to the usual recycled materials like metals and newspapers, the figure includes food scrap and yard trimmings recovered for composting.
Recycling rates have been inching higher, while the waste disposal in landfills has decreased from 94% of the total waste generated in 1960 to just over 54% in 2009.
As expected, paper/paperboard was recycled at the highest rate (62.1%), followed by yard trimmings (59.9%).
34.5% of metals were recycled, a fairly lackluster rate. That rate would have been much lower if not for the law that requires recycling of lead-acid batteries – 96% of which was recycled in 2009.
Plastics recycling continues to lag with only a 7.1% recovery rate (by weight). Plastics constituted an estimated 30 million tons of MSW in 2009 and the amount of plastic generation as a percentage of total MSW generation has remained fairly steady over the past few years.
While the recovery rate for all plastics was low, PET bottles (#1) and jars were recovered at a rate of 28% in 2009 and recovery of HDPE bottles (#2) was estimated at 28.9%.
The low plastics recovery rate isn’t because of lack of demand for recycled plastic. Many fewer curbside programs collect it and there’s been huge growth in water and other plastic bottles consumed outside the home where recycling isn’t available.
Other areas which need to be improved are aluminum cans, which are down 50.7%, folding cartons (50%), tires (35.3%), and glass packaging (31.1%).
Aluminum cans, for example, is recycled at much higher rates in Brazil (94%), Japan (91%), and Germany (89%). The global average is about 63%, according to Alcoa.
Accelerating US recycling rates requires further expansion of curbside programs, especially single-stream options that make recycling simpler by throwing everything into one bin. Expect to see more cities and towns implement "pay-as-you-throw" garbage programs to raise revenue from recyclable material sales and lower landfill costs.
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For the small biz/home office peeps, there are a few tginhs that are pretty simple easy starts to being a little more green.- recycling ink cartridges is cool, but how about reusing/refilling the the old ones? Lots of small kiosks and spots will refill them with soy & water based inks. Some printers react better than others, but give it a shot.- you may think it an odd idea, but buy a French Press for your coffee. Not only can you make a smaller batch of java without being wasteful, it also saves on water and electricity.- a good paper shredder is not only good for security, but it can make great packing material for mailing items. Take the shreds, place them in old plastic bags (getting some re-use out of them) and surround your mailed items with them. Not packing peanuts’, more like packing potatoes’. – I use the new fluorescent replacement light bulbs in the office and in my make-shift photo lightbox. A small thing but it’s something. You can actually get them in warmer tones too so you don’t get that awful old-school blue haze’. Things done changed!- it’s pretty simple to recycle paper.- design more tginhs that don’t require bright white papers. When a warm tone is needed, go with a cool recycled sheet.These are just some ideas I’ve had. Nothing revolutionary. Just spitballin’ some thoughts.