Recycling

Solid waste is becoming an increasingly serious problem as the number of landfills decreases without a concomitant decrease in waste generation. To better illustrate, in 1986 per capita generation of solid waste was 3.6 pounds/day; by 2000 it is expected to reach 4.3 pounds/day. In comparison the number of solid waste landfills dropped from 8,000 in 1988 to 3,197 in 1995. Concurrently tipping fees have increased, often by an order of magnitude in just a few years. It is estimated that 35% of the solid waste mix is packaging of all types; metal cans are estimated to be less than 2% of solid waste by weight, whereas all metallic objects represent about 7% of solid waste.