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Waste in America: Recycling

Updated: Apr 14, 2021

In 2018, 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated. That is about 4.9 pounds per person per day. That would be like throwing away 10 people a year. That is a lot of waste and it is hard for me to wrap around just how much that is.


That waste has various different routes of disposal. It can end up in landfills, it can be recycled, it can be composted, or it can also be managed by other food waste systems. Today we'll focus on some of the ins and out of recycling in the United States.

Recycling

According to the EPA, the rate of recycling municipal solid waste has increased from 7% to 35% since the 1960's. This is all due to state and local regulation, there are still no federal recycling protocols. In 2020, 27 states had some sort of mandatory recycling requirement. 23 states have no such regulations. This is what limits that 35% recycle rate from growing.


Utah is one of those states lacking regulation. When I moved to Utah in 2017, it was to me utter surprise that there were no recycling options for me at my apartment building. I thought that recycling was universal! I learned quickly that it was not, and that if I wanted to dispose of my waste responsibly, I would have to be creative. On-campus services provided some recycling, and I also found some apartment complexes that also had places to dump recycling. If I'm being honest though, most of my waste that could have been recycled during that year was not, just because it was very inconvenient to do so.


Another problem with recycled waste, is that even when collection services are available it doesn't guarantee that those items are actually recycled. The current U.S. recycling infrastructure is not sufficient to meet the waste stream. Normally, the U.S. ships many of its recyclables to China to be processed and manufactured, but in 2018 China placed a ban on that. This has left the United States in a lurch. Many recyclables now reach their ends much quicker than we had hoped in landfills or incinerators. Six times more plastic waste is incinerated than recycled.

What should be done

First off, stop buying single use plastic. There are tons of cute, fun, and environmentally friendly alternatives. Second, push for recycling initiatives in your area. It's also important to support any bills or proposals that promote and improve recycling infrastructure. Recycling creates many jobs for any area, currently the recycling industry employs approximately 700,000 people and generates $7 billion in tax revenue. These initiatives will boost the economy and improve your community's carbon footprint!

Recycling is a much better alternative to just throwing things in the trash, so keep it up. Even though the outcome of recycling isn't exactly what we wish it were, it is not a lost cause. Keep recycling, but more important reduce, reuse, and refuse before that point!




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