IN THIS SECTION

KNOW YOUR TRASH FACTS

About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 34%. (Environmental Protection Agency)

More than ½ million trees are saved each year by recycling paper in Boulder County. (Eco-Cycle)

By recycling more than 57,000 tons of steel cans, we reduce greenhouse gasses equivalent to taking more than 21,000 cars off the road each year. (WM)

Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%. (Environmental Defense Fund)

If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees—or about 26 million trees per year. (California Department of Conservation)

The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year—or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years. (Steel Recycling Institute)

The total volume of solid waste produced in the U.S. each year is equal to the weight of more than 5,600 Nimitz Class air craft carriers, 247,000 space shuttles, or 2.3 million Boeing 747 jumbo jets. (Beck)

An average kitchen-size bag of trash contains enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 24 hours. (Covanta)

The solid waste industry currently produces more than half of America's renewable energy, more than combined energy outputs of the solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and wind power industries. (U.S. DOE, Energy Information Administration)

Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. (Trash to Cash)

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours. (Environmental Protection Agency)

Glass can be recycled an indefinite number of times and never wears out. (National Recycling Coalition)

Making glass from recycled material cuts related air pollution by 20% and water pollution by 50%. (National Recycling Coalition)

If we put all of the solid waste collected in the U.S. in a line of average garbage trucks, that line of trucks could cross the country, extending from New York City to Los Angeles, more than 100 times. (Beck)

Five PET bottles (plastic soda bottles) yield enough fiber for one extra large T-shirt, one square food of carpet or enough fiber fill to fill one ski jacket. (National Recycling Coalition)

The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans in a lifetime. (National Recycling Coalition)

Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12-foot-high wall of paper from New York to Seattle. (National Recycling Coalition)

The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. (National Recycling Coalition)

Once an aluminum can is recycled, it's back on the grocery shelf as another aluminum can in 60 days. (www.aluminum.org)

Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet. (www.aluminum.org)

Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can's volume of gasoline. (www.aluminum.org)

Enough aluminum cans were recycled last year to fill a hollow Empire State Building 24 times. (www.aluminum.org)

The 62.6 billion cans recycled last year alone would make 171 circles around the earth at its equator. (www.aluminum.org)

Nearly 120,000 cans are recycled every minute nationwide. (www.aluminum.org)

Over the past 10 years, the number of aluminum cans recycled has doubled. (www.aluminum.org)

More than one million tons of aluminum containers and packaging are thrown away each year. (www.aluminum.org)

Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of 2,350 gallons of gasoline. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by the average home over a period of 10 years. (www.aluminum.org)

By using recycled aluminum instead of virgin ore, aluminum manufactures save enough energy needed to supply electricity to a city the size of Pittsburgh for about six years. (www.aluminum.org)

In 2010, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each man, woman, and child in the United States. (www.paperrecycles.org)

Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. (http://earth911.org)

Recycling a four-foot stack of newspapers saves the equivalent of one 40-foot fir tree, that tree can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year. (www.ohiobaler.com)

More than 37 percent of the fiber used to make new paper products in the United States comes from recycled sources. (http://earth911.org)

86 percent (approximately 254 million) of Americans have access to curbside or drop-off paper recycling programs. (http://earth911.org)

Every month, we throw out enough recyclable glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. (www.recycling-revolution.com)

The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials. (www.recycling-revolution.com)

Every year, Americans throw away enough office and writing paper to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

Recycling 1 ton of paper uses 7,000 fewer gallons of water, saves 35% of the water pollution and 70% of the air pollution produced in making new paper, uses 4100 KWH less energy, and saves 390 gallons of oil. (www.ohiobaler.com)

If all the glass bottles and jars collected through recycling in the U.S. in one year were laid end-to-end, they would reach the Moon and half way back to the Earth. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

The volume of glass recycled by Americans in one year would fill New Jersey's Giants Stadium more than three times. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

Used plastic soda and juice bottles are used to make carpets, insulating materials in clothes and sleeping bags, strapping, scouring, pads, auto parts, paint brushes, bottles, and other things such as tennis balls! (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

We can recycle plastic milk, water and detergent bottles to make new detergent and engine oil bottles, trash cans, flower pots, recycling bins, drainage pipes, park benches, playground equipment, traffic barrier cones, kitchen drain boards and combs! (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

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The Circular File

Waste Age columns by NSWMA’s Chaz Miller are available here.

2013

Overcoming Anonymity - March 2013: Why do multifamily residents continue to resist recycling?
Collective Identity - February 2013: After decades of fundamental change in the waste industry, are we still “garbage guys?”
Best Laid Plans - January 2013: Flow control will fail to provide enough waste for Ulster County.

2012

Passing Time (and Little Else) - December 2012: A quiet legislative year for waste and recycling, but Vermont may point the way.
Numbers Game - November 2012: San Francisco’s shiny new diversion rate begins to break down under scrutiny.
Supply It and They Will Buy - October 2012: When supply of recyclables is divorced from demand, will prices be enough?
Diversion Dynasty - September 2012: Does China own recycling?
Scudder’s Folly - August 2012: How a kitchen blender full of soggy newspaper launched the modern recycling movement.
Burying a Man Who Dug - July 2012: Remembering the late archaeologist Bill Rathje, inventor of “garbology.”
Somewhat Magic 8-Ball - June 2012: Predicting broad waste and recycling trands is easy.. It’s the details that remain hazy.
Bargain Bin - May 2012: Recycling is free and life is great...right?
Pick a Number - April 2012: Truly accurate waste and recycling data continues to elude us.
It Looked Good on Paper - March 2012: A change in EPA's paper recycling rate methodology prompts a diversion do-over.
Legislative Lethargy - February 2012: Assessing the year that was in waste and recycling legislation.
Five Myths of Recycling - January 2012: Challenging a few prevailing assumptions about the state of recycling.

2011

Work, Not Waste - December 2011: A new report studies the importance of recycling in U.S. job creation...to mixed effect.
Studied Stewardship - November 2011: Research what works and what doesn't when it comes to product stewardship.
Magic Bullets - October 2011: The quest for a trash cure-all has become this generation's answer to alchemy.
Throwaway Predictions - September 2011: When it comes to predicting the future of waste, the only sure strategy is pragmatism.
Refill Roulette - August 2011: A new way of marketing Windex could benefit the environment...if we embrace it.
EPA, This Is Your Life! - July 2011: Despite constant criticism, EPA has been cleaning up this country for more than 40 years.
Hammering Out a Standard - June 2011: Establishing specifications for fuel derived from construction and demolition debris.
How Green Was My Garbage Truck - May 2011: Rules intended to lower collection vehicle emissions could increase them instead.
United Notions - April 2011: Working with the United Nations to set waste management goals for the world.
The Meaning of Less - March 2011: Waiting for waste volumes to return to their old levels? Don't hold your breath.
The Waste We Were - February 2011: It's official. Americans are producing less waste year over year.
The Year Ahead - January 2011: Fearless forecasts for solid waste and recycling in 2011.

2010

2010 Redux - December 2010: Solid waste and recycling legislation in 2010 was a study in contradictions.
Greenmail - November 2010: Environmental organizations should practice what they post.
A Lot of Hot Air - October 2010: The reality of landfill gas recovery.
The Remains of the Meal - September 2010: A once finicky industry is developing a taste for diverting food waste.
Share the Load - August 2010: Privatization offers local governments flexibility and savings.
Night Shift - July 2010: Climate change could grant the wish of haulers longing for nighttime collecction.
Waste on Wheels - June 2010: Trucks are the vanguard of our industry, warranting constant scrutiny
The Right Stuff? - May 2010: Considering Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff"
My Zero Waste Day - April 2010: A curbside revolution
Embracing Restraint - March 2010: Is frugality the new green?
Slimming Down - February 2010: The waste we chased is plainly being displaced.
Pennies from Heavin' - January 2010: Governments attempt to cover budget shortfalls by slashing sanitation costs.

2009

Field of Screams - December 2009: Ban it and it will go away.
Want Not, Waste Not - November 2009: A new EPA study shows the role consumption plays in climate change.
Making Do With Less - October 2009: The waste stream is shrinking. How will waste managers adjust?
Out of Sight, Out of Mind - September 2009: When counting recycling's environmental costs, why do we over look China?
One Year Later - August 2009: China's Olympic fervor gave way to a new recycling reality
Recycling Works - July 2009: Recycling creates jobs and strengthens the economy.
Webslinging - June 2009: The Web has transformed many industries including solid waste and recycling.
Change in the Air - May 2009: The waste industry will continue to lower its greenhouse gas emissions.
Spring Fling - April 2009: Trash taxes pop up alongside the tulips and daffodils.
Titanic Times - February 2009: Recycling hits the iceberg of oversupply
Sanitation Prognostication - January 2009: Fearless forecasts for the new legislative year.

2008

So Long, 2008 - December 2008: The year that was in waste and recycling.
No End to Volatility - November 2008: Recent plunge in recycling markets evokes shades ot the past.
It's Hard To Be a Zero - October 2008: Communities are likely to find that meeting a zero-waste goal is quite a challenge
The Air Over There - September 2008: Is the recycling boom coming at China's expense?
Less Is More - August 2008: Source reduction takes a bit out of the waste stream
Tomorrow's Trash - July 2008: How easy is it to predict the future of waste?
17 Trees - June 2008: Trying to see the forest in spite of a dubious statistic
The (Ana)Log Jam - May 2008: Don't worry: We won't drown in old TVs
A Climate of Change - April 2008: Waste industry will feel affects of climate change legislation
Paper thin - March 2008: What's happening to the king of the waste stream
Myth Bluster - February 2008: Debunking recycling's most persistent urban myths
The Sanitation Seer - January 2008: Fearless legislative forecasts for the new year

2007

Boxcar Blues - December 2007: States must be allowed to regulate railroad transfer stations
Losing Count - November 2007: Can we track the true size of the U./S. waste stream
Let Them Eat Garbage - October 2007: The North Carolina legislature sinks deeper into denial
Rise and Whine - September 2007: "Freakonomics" author gets up early to bash recycling
Of Toshers and Such - August 2007: Miasma, germs and a Cholera-free London
Bargain Bin - July 2007: Full disclosure shows the value of waste services
The Bottle Battle - June 2007: Curbside collection and deposits work best in tandem
Five Best - May 2007: Books that deliver the dirt on garbage and recycling
Raking the Dead - April 2007: Will your final resting place be a compost heap?
A Question of Value - March 2007: The difference between waste and recyclables
The Garbage Barge - February 2007: Two decades into a new paradigm
Fearless Forecasts - January 2007: A look at what's in store legislatively in 2007.

2006

Is Recycling Dead? - December 2006: Rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated
Oh Canada! - November 2006: The House makes Canadian bacon
Happy Birthday RCRA - October 2006: Thirty years ago, Congress changed garbage
Tarheel Looney Tunes - September 2006: North Carolina declares a moratorium on reality
Yesterday's Papers - August 2006: Supply and demand is a thing of the past
Diesel Blues - July 2006: Diesel is more expensive - how do we deal with it?
Legislative Rubble - June 2006: Meddling politicians make a mess with permitting law
Bull in a China Shop - May 2006: Markets for recyclables are hot, enjoy the ride
Free Recycling - April 2006: Nobody pays, everyone's happy
High-Hanging Fruit - March 2006: How easy will it be to increase recycling rates?
Picking Up the Tab - February 2006: Who will pay to recycle your old computer?
Let's Do It Right! - January 2006: For e-waste, a wait-and-see approach might be best.

2005

Evading Responsibility - December 2005: Railroad waste processing facilities need permits
Garbage's 40th Birthday - November 2005: Forty years ago Congress acted and waste changed
Toxic Trash - October 2005: Let's stick to the facts, not fear and emotion
Recycling NIMBIES - September 2005: Nothing is sacred when it comes to change
What a Waste - August 2005: Nine years later, recycling is stronger than ever
Trash Tax Time Again - July 2005: Michigan tries to shoot itself in the wallet
An End to Volatility? - June 2005: Stability in recycled paper prices brings change
Fair Competition - May 2005: Why bother with good service
Supply Crisis - April 2005: Part Two: Where's the Money?
Supply Crisis? - March 2005: Part One: What do the numbers say?
2005 - February 2005: Fearless and carefully hedged forecasts for the future
The Smell of Garbage - January 2005: Trash may stink, but we can control it.

2004

Trash Politics 2004 - December 2004: Garbage and recycling survive another year
Accountability Works - November 2004: Government services shouldn't be sacred cows
Noise - October 2004: What is the sound of one garbage truck clapping?
Stuff - September 2004: Using less stuff is easier for industry than for people
Essential Services - August 2004: Politics are messy, but establish accountability
Bullshit! - July 2004: Penn and Teller and my great adventure
Garbage "Facts" - June, 2004: All I know about garbage I read in the papers.
Happy Birthday - May 2004: Ten years later and the world didn't end.
Make the Haulers Pay - April 2004: But wait: our customers pay our taxes for us.
Recycling's Impact - March 2004: let's count the real jobs first, then all the others.
Fearless Forecast - February 2004: what does 2004 have in store?
Trash-free Zone - January 2004: can we wish trash away?

2003

A Taxing Charade - December 2003: county disguises tax as fake fee
Single Stream - November 2003: can recycling have both quality and quantity?
Pay-As-You-Throw - October 2003: what's all the fuss about bags and tags?
Poison PCs - September 2003: doing the "e-right" thing may not be so easy
Core Services - August 2003: is recycling as important as police or parks?
Garbage and Health - July 2003: our first job is to protect public health
Garbage Woo-Woo - June 2003: why do sensible people lose it over garbage?
The Chaz Challenge - May 2003: a vote for truth in trash tax advertising
Wall Around Michigan - April 2003: waste disposal is a two-way street
Seattle's Decision - March 2003: how much should increased recycling cost?
Fearless Forecast 2003 - February 2003: the shifting focus in 2003
More is Less - January 2003: waste reduction is more effective than ever

EIA is the trade association that represents the private sector solid waste and recycling industry through its two sub-associations, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC).