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Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in the United States: Facts and Figures
Related Links
Report Improvements and Enhancement Updates
State Measurement Efforts
List of State and Local Waste Characterization Studies - A collection of state and local waste characterization studies
The MSW Characterization report provides the most recent available data on annual US waste generation, recycling, and disposal, as well as the benefits of recycling.
Recycling is a key component of EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program (SMM). SMM is an effort to protect the environment and conserve resources for future generations through a systems approach that seeks to reduce materials use and their associated environmental impacts over their entire life cycles, starting with extraction of natural resources and product design and ending with decisions on recycling or final disposal.
2012 MSW Characterization Reports
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- 2012 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (14 pp, 1.17 MB)
- 2012 Data Tables (PDF) (63 pp, 1.6 MB)
- Methodology for MSW Characterization Numbers (PDF) (12 pp, 65K)
- Methodology for Estimating MSW Recycling Benefits (PDF) (11 pp, 101K)
The full report, which is released every two years, contains data on:
- MSW generation, recovery, and disposal from 1960 to 2011;
- Per capita generation and discard rates;
- Source reduction (waste prevention);
- Materials and products that are in the waste stream;
- Aggregate data on the infrastructure for MSW management, including estimates of the number of curbside recycling programs, composting programs, and landfills in the US; and
- Trends in MSW management from 1960 to 2011, including source reduction, recycling and composting, and disposal via combustion and landfilling.
MSW Characterization Reports from Previous Years
- 2011 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (14 pp, 2.18MB)
- 2011 Facts and Figures Full Report (PDF) (169 pp, 1.76MB)
- 2010 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp,1.34 MB)
- 2010 Data Tables (PDF) (58 pp, 805K)
- 2009 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp, 1.2MB)
- 2009 Facts and Figures Full Report (PDF) (198 pp, 2.4MB)
- 2008 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp, 1.2MB)
- 2008 Data Tables (PDF) (58 pp, 945.86K)
- 2007 Facts and Figures (PDF) (177 pp, 5.8MB)
- 2007 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp, 506K)
- 2006 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF)(11 pp, 882K)
- 2006 Data Tables (PDF) (56 pp, 2.4MB)
- 2005 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp, 532K)
- 2005 Facts and Figures (PDF) (164 pp, 2.5MB)
- 2003 Facts and Figures Fact Sheet (PDF) (12 pp, 626K)
- 2003 Data Tables (PDF) (40 pp, 7MB)
- 2001 Facts and Figures (PDF) (183 pp, 850K)
- 2000 (PDF) (177 pp, 842K)
- 1999 (PDF) (144 pp, 425K)
- 1998 (PDF) (167 pp, 924K)
- 1998 Data Tables (PDF) (36 pp, 153K)
- 1997 (PDF) (182 pp, 560K)
- 1996 (PDF) (168 pp, 515K)
- 1995 (PDF) (144 pp, 299K)
