Trash and Recycling

Generated and Recycled by Material

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Trash Generated

The charts below represent all trash generated from 1960-2007 in the United States broken down by material. The data is represented in thousands of tons.

Material	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2004	2005	2006	2007
Paper and Paperboard	29,990	44,310	55,160	72,730	87,740	86,450	84,840	85,350	83,010
Glass	6,720	12,740	15,130	13,100	12,760	12,890	13,320	13,520	13,580
Metals	10,820	13,830	15,510	16,550	18,910	19,980	20,060	20,660	20,750
Plastics	390	2,900	6,830	17,130	25,540	29,480	29,240	29,810	30,730
Rubber and Leather	1,840	2,970	4,200	5,790	6,710	7,150	7,360	7,400	7,480
Textiles	1,760	2,040	2,530	5,810	9,440	10,980	11,380	11,870	11,920
Wood	3,030	3,720	7,010	12,210	13,110	13,890	14,080	14,100	14,210
Food	12,200	12,800	13,000	20,800	26,810	29,410	30,220	31,040	31,650
Yard Trimmings	20,000	23,200	27,500	35,000	30,530	31,770	32,070	32,400	32,630
Miscellaneous Inorganic Wastes	1,300	1,780	2,250	2,900	3,500	3,650	3,690	3,720	3,750
Other Materials	70	770	2,520	3,190	4,000	4,130	4,170	4,310	4,430

Trash Recycled

The charts below represent all trash recycled from 1960-2007 in the United States broken down by material. The data is represented in thousands of tons.

Material	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2004	2005	2006	2007
Paper and Paperboard	5,080	6,770	11,740	20,230	37,560	40,730	41,960	43,830	45,240
Glass	100	160	750	2,630	2,880	2,730	2,800	2,880	3,220
Metals	50	480	1,220	3,970	6,600	7,060	6,920	7,170	7,230
Plastics	0	0	20	370	1,480	1,720	1,760	2,050	2,090
Rubber and Leather	330	250	130	370	820	1,090	1,100	1,090	1,100
Textiles	50	60	160	660	1,320	1,780	1,850	1,880	1,900
Wood	0	0	0	130	1,240	1,290	1,310	1,310	1,320
Food	0	0	0	0	680	660	690	680	810
Yard Trimmings	0	0	0	4,200	15,770	19,810	19,860	20,100	20,900
Miscellaneous Inorganic Wastes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Materials	0	300	500	680	980	1,120	1,140	1,170	1,160

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