Municipal solid waste generation in the U.S. 1960-2018, by material

The volume of different materials generated in the United States municipal solid waste stream has increased considerably since the 1960s. One of the most dramatic increases was observed in plastic waste generation, which grew from 6.8 million tons in 1980 to more than 35 million tons in 2018. Paper waste in the United StatesMunicipal solid waste is commonly known as the garbage produced from everyday items from households, the commercial industry, and institutions. In total, the United States has increased its generation of municipal solid waste from 88.1 million tons in 1960 to some 292.4 million tons in 2018. Since the 1960s, municipal waste in the United States has been primarily paper and paperboard materials. In 2018, the North American country produced 67.4 million tons of paper and paperboard waste. The ability to recover paper and paperboard waste has steadily increased, surpassing a rate of 65 percent in recent years. However, a large portion of tissue products and retained documents are unrecoverable due to the thousands of chemicals contained within the fibers, which could contaminate newly manufactured paper products. Another fraction of paper waste is landfilled, despite being potentially recoverable. Lack of collection infrastructure, poor recycling habits, or low awareness are usually the main reasons why waste is not recovered.Landfilled wasteAlthough the volume of recycled municipal solid waste has increased over the years, landfilling is still the main waste disposal method in the United States. Out of approximately 290 million tons of waste generated in 2018 in the North American country, roughly 146 million tons were landfilled. In comparison, only 69 million tons were recycled.

自20世纪60年代以来，美国市政固体废物流中不同材料的产生量显著增加。其中，塑料废物的增长尤为显著，从1980年的680万吨增长至2018年的超过3500万吨。在美国，市政固体废物通常指的是家庭、商业行业和机构日常物品产生的垃圾。总计，美国市政固体废物的产生量从1960年的8810万吨增至2018年的约2.924亿吨。自20世纪60年代以来，美国市政废物主要以纸张和纸板材料为主。2018年，北美国家产生了6740万吨的纸张和纸板废物。纸张和纸板废物的回收能力稳步提升，近年来已超过65%的回收率。然而，由于纤维中含有的数千种化学物质可能污染新制造的纸张产品，大量卫生纸产品和存档文件无法回收。另一部分纸张废物尽管具有潜在的回收性，但仍然被填埋。缺乏收集基础设施、回收习惯不佳或公众意识不足通常是废物未能回收的主要原因。填埋废物尽管近年来回收的市政固体废物量有所增加，但在美国，填埋仍然是主要的废物处理方法。2018年，北美国家产生的约2.9亿吨废物中，约1.46亿吨被填埋，相比之下，只有6900万吨被回收。