| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 10:17 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Recycling (Rosemarie)
April 30, 1997
Dear Rosemarie,
If you would just search this website alone, you would come up with more general recycling information than you could use, but here s some basic information:
In the US we recycle about 1/4 of the municipal solid waste that we produce. We recycle much less but some of the hazardous wastes that we produce. We have frontiers in the areas of industrial solid (nonhazardous waste) as well as special wastes like tires, batteries, oil, etc.
The major recovery rates in 1994 were Aluminum: 55%; Food: 3%; Glass: 23%; Paper: 35%; Plastics: 5%; Steel Packaging: 53%; Textiles: 12%; Wood: 8%; Tires: 15%, Yard Trimmings: 23%. By far the largest item in municipal solid wwaste is paper and paperboard, followed by yard wastes, plastics, and rubber/leather/textiles.
You can get a great deal of this information by calling the RCRA Hotline at 800-424-9346 and requesting Environmental Fact Sheet: Recycling Municipal Solid Waste: 1995 Facts Figures EPA 530-F-96-034. This will be updated by the end of summer, 1997.
-- Research Library for RCRA