| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 14:25:47 -0400 (EDT) From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Statistics on US fam [sic] generates how much recyclables
April 22, 1999
Each resident of the US generates 4.3 lbs of municipal solid waste each day as of 1996.Most of that amount is recoverable in the form of recycling and composting. However, in reality, only 1.1 lbs per person per day is recovered. Generally, not specifically, the following percentages will correspond to the aggregate discards of the population:
38% is paper and paperboard
13.5% is yard wastes
10.4% is food wastes
9.4% is plastics
7.7% are metals
5.9% is glass
5.2% is wood
9.9% is everything else
In terms of recovery, again in aggregate, we recover about:
41% of paper and paperboard
26% of glass
40% of metals
5% of plastics
9% of rubber and leater
12% of textiles
5% of wood
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