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According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recycling rate of US Municipal Solid Waste which has increased from 16% in 1990 to 34.5% in 2012.
“Americans generate about 251 million tons of trash and recycle/compost almost 87 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.5 percent recycling rate. On average, Americans recycle/compost 1.51 pounds of their individual waste generation of 4.38 pounds per person per day.”
This sharp increase in the recycling rate amongst Americans can be attributed to technological advances in single-stream recycling, but can also be linked to the construction waste management credits found in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.
Since the trash output is practically invisible, it is extremely difficult to motivate the average consumer to even acknowledge that waste doesn’t just magically disappear and to understand the country’s growing concern over waste management.
But while recycling is crucial, we are strongly convinced that encouraging people to reduce waste generation is equally important.
Source: USGBC