Municipal Solid Waste 1422

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is the stuff we have used and no longer need. EPA's MSW data does not include construction and demolition debris, hazardous, medical, radioactive or industrial waste. This profile does not include those items.

EPA estimates the size of the waste stream using manufacturing production data, estimates of product imports and exports, and estimates of product lifetimes. Food and yard waste is estimated based on sampling studies. EPA has used a consistent database for four decades.

Compilations of state data using tonnage from disposal, recycling and composting facilities produce higher numbers. Using state data, Biocycle magazine estimated 387.9 million tons of solid waste were generated in 2005. State data often includes non-hazardous solid waste such as C&D and industrial waste. The 50 states do not count waste consistently.

In a more comprehensive look at the solid waste stream, the Environmental Research and Education Foundation surveyed all disposal facilities in the United States and estimated that 545 million tons of waste was managed in 2000. Of that number, 146 million tons was recycled or composted. That data includes all non-hazardous Subtitle D solid waste managed outside of the generator's facility.

Municipal Solid Waste Facts*:

Generated:

Recycled:

Recycled Content:

Composted:

Incinerated or Landfilled:

Landfill Density (1997 data):

Source Reduction:

End Market Specifications:

Sources:

“Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures,” U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, Washington, D.C., www.epa.gov/osw

Biocycle magazine, www.jgpress.com/biocycle.htm

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, www.isri.org

National Solid Wastes Management Association, www.nswma.org

National Source Reduction Characterization Report, U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, 1999 www.epa.gov/osw

* All data from 2005 unless otherwise noted.