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MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATION
IN THE UNITED STATES, 2000
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*Includes rubber and textiles
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Source: EPA Office of Solid Waste, Municipal Solid Waste Fact Sheet
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm
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Americans spend over $30 billion a year to manage the disposal of a single year's eight billion tons of waste.
Approximately 232 million tons are labeled as municipal solid waste (MSW). The remaining are classified as industrial waste generated by manufacturing,
agriculture, and mining. Included in the definition of municipal solid waste are durable and nondurable goods, containers, food scraps, yard waste, and
inorganic waste from residential, commercial, recreational, and institutional sources. Municipal solid waste can also include sludge from water and
wastewater treatment facilities, septic tanks, construction and demolition debris, medical waste, slaughterhouse waste, grease, and grit trap waste.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. per capita generation of waste (pounds per person per
day) and total waste generation has increased from 1960 to 2000.* (Generation is the sum of
disposal(landfilling, combustion), recycling,including composting and the net of importation and exportation)
- In 1960, per capita generation was 2.7 pounds per person while total waste generation was 88.1 million tons.
- In 1980 per capita generation rose to 3.7 pounds per day while total waste generation was 121 million tons.
- In 2000, the per capita generation of waste was 4.5 pounds per person per data, total waste generation was 232 million tons
According to the Office of Technology Assessment, the U.S. economy is among the most material intensive economies
in the world, extracting more than 10 tons (20,000 pounds) of food, fuel, forestry products, metals and nonmetallic
ores per person from U.S. territories each year. Over 90 percent of these resources become waste (municipal and industrial) within a few months of being extracted.*
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MATERIALS GENERATED IN THE MUNICIPAL WASTE STREAM FOR USE IN
PRODUCTS, 1960 TO 1998
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Note: Generation before materials recovery or combustion. Does not include
construction & demolition debris, industrialprocess wastes, or certain other wastes.
* Includes electrolytes in batteries and fluff pulp, feces, and urine
in disposable diapers.
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Source: EPA, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the
United States, 1999 Update
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The United States leads the world in municipal waste production. The waste volume is growing faster than
the U.S. population. The average American consumes 17 times more than the average citizen of Mexico and hundreds of times more than an average Ethiopian.* As the World Resources Institute has noted, "the highest levels of resource use and waste generation
[municipal and industrial] tend to occur in the wealthiest cities and among the wealthier groups within cities."* "Thus wealthy cities contribute
disproportionately to global environmental problems. By contrast, the urban poor's per capita resource use and waste generation tend to be quite low."*
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