After working to reduce the volume of Municipal Solid Waste entering the waste stream, the EPA is dedicated to capturing and diverting as much recyclable and compostable material as possible. The EPA defines recycling as a “series of activities that includes collecting recyclable materials that would otherwise be considered waste, sorting and processing recyclables into raw materials such as fibers, and manufacturing raw materials into new products.” Notice how emphasis is given to all three fundamental elements of recycling—collecting and processing, manufacturing, and purchasing recycled products—to best create an efficient loop.
As is evident in this chart, recycling in America has come a long way in the past 30 years:
A couple of highlights of the recycling system’s success, again courtesy of the EPA:
- In 2006, recycling and composting activities prevented about 82 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 32.5% of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.
- While recycling has grown in general, recycling of specific materials has grown even more drastically: 50% of all paper, 34% of all plastic soft drink bottles, 45% of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 63% of all steel packaging, and 67% of all major appliances are now recycled.
- Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States, which collected several materials at the curb. By 2006, almost 8,660 curbside programs had sprouted up across the nation. As of 2005, about 500 materials recovery facilities had been established to process the collected materials.
