Paper		Glass		Metals*		Aluminum		Plastics		Rubber and leather
	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-
	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-
Year	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery
	million tons
1960	29.99	5.08	6.72	0.10	10.48	0.05	0.34	**	0.39	**	1.84	0.33
1970	44.31	6.77	12.74	0.16	13.03	0.47	0.80	0.01	2.90	**	2.97	0.25
1980	55.16	11.74	15.13	0.75	13.78	0.91	1.73	0.31	6.83	0.02	4.20	0.13
1990	72.73	20.23	13.10	2.63	13.74	2.96	2.81	1.01	17.13	0.37	5.79	0.37
1995	81.67	32.70	12.83	3.14	12.90	4.94	2.96	0.93	18.90	0.99	6.03	0.54
1997	83.84	34.92	12.01	2.92	13.60	5.56	3.01	0.94	21.46	1.11	6.59	0.77
	Textiles		Wood		Other		Food waste		Yard waste		Miscellaneous
	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-	Gen-	Re-
	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-	era-	cov-
Year	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery	tion	ery
	million tons
1960	1.76	0.05	3.03	**	0.07	**	12.20	**	20.00	**	1.30	**
1970	2.04	0.06	3.72	**	0.77	0.30	12.80	**	23.20	**	1.78	**
1980	2.53	0.16	7.01	**	2.52	0.50	13.00	**	27.50	**	2.25	**
1990	5.81	0.67	12.21	0.13	3.19	0.68	20.80	**	35.00	4.20	2.90	**
1995	7.40	0.90	10.44	0.45	3.65	0.75	21.74	0.57	29.69	9.00	3.15	**
1997	8.24	1.06	11.57	0.59	3.76	0.76	21.91	0.58	27.73	11.49	3.25	**

Source:  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1998 Update, Table 1, p. 29 and Table 2, p. 30 (EPA, Washington, DC, 1999).

Notes:  *Ferrous and other nonferrous metals except aluminum. **Negligible (less than 5,000 tons). Other includes electrolytes in batteries and disposable paper diapers.

Last Updated on Tuesday, April 25, 2000