Americans generate trash at an astonishing rate of four pounds per day per person, which translates to 600,000 tons per day or 210 million tons per year! This is almost twice as much trash per person as most other major countries. What happens to this trash? Some gets recycled or recovered and some is burned, but the majority is buried in landfills.
How Much Trash is Generated?
Of the 210 million tons of trash, or solid waste, generated in the United States annually about 56 million tons, or 27 percent, is either recycled (glass, paper products, plastic, metals) or composted (yard waste). The remaining trash is discarded and is made up of mostly paper products, plastics, yard waste and wood
How is Trash Disposed?
The trash produ
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