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Frequent Questions about Recycling and Waste Management

This section of EPA's MSW Web site contains answers to questions about recycling and solid waste management programs. For more detailed information on each topic, please link to the additional Web sites noted throughout this page.

What is the solid waste management hierarchy?

Pyramid depicting the solid waste management hierarchy. Source reduction is at the top, followed by Reuse, then Recycling/Composting, then Incineration, then Landfilling

The four-tier solid waste management hierarchy (shown in the pyramid below) ranks the most preferable ways to address solid waste. Source reduction or waste prevention, which includes reuse, is the best approach (tier one), followed by recycling (tier 2). Waste that cannot be prevented or recycled can be combusted with energy recovery (tier 3). Tier 4 is landfilling or incineration without energy recovery. Both of these disposal options take place according to proper regulations.

Why is source reduction at the top of the hierarchy? Because the best approach to managing solid waste is to avoid creating it in the first place. This means reducing the amount of trash you discard and reusing containers and products instead of throwing them away.

Once waste is created, recycling, which includes composting, is one of the most effective methods of reducing the amount of material in the waste stream. If waste cannot be recycled, incineration or sanitary landfilling are the next preferred methods of treatment.

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Is recycling worthwhile?

Recycling is one of the best environmental success stories of the late 20th century. Recycling, which includes composting, diverted over 72 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 2003, up from 34 million tons in 1990—doubling in just 10 years. Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. As a matter of fact, collecting recyclable materials is just the first step in a series of actions that generate a host of financial, environmental, and societal returns. There are several key benefits to recycling. Recycling:

Learn more about the benefits of recycling.

Recycling not only makes sense from an environmental standpoint, but also makes good financial sense. For example, creating aluminum cans from recycled aluminum is far less energy-intensive, and less costly, than mining the raw materials and manufacturing new cans from scratch.

Because recycling is clearly good for human health, the nation's economy, and the environment, many people wonder why the federal government does not simply mandate recycling. The primary reason is that recycling is a local issue—the success and viability of recycling depends on a community's resources and structure. A community must consider the costs of a recycling program, as well as the availability of markets for its recovered materials. In some areas, not enough resources exist to make recycling an economically feasible option. State governments can assess local conditions and set appropriate recycling mandates. For information about recycling in your state, contact your EPA regional office, or your state agency.

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What costs my community more—recycling or throwing trash away?

Image of garbage can and recycling bin, with dollar signs floating above them

The answer to this question will vary depending on where you live, and comparing recycling program and waste disposal costs is a complex undertaking. Disposal fees for landfills, waste transfer stations, and incinerators vary across the country, but in many areas, particularly on the heavily populated East Coast, they are significant expenses. Costs and returns for recycling programs also vary greatly, depending on the local resources and demand for the recovered materials.

Recycling does cost money, but so does waste disposal. Communities must pay to collect trash and manage a landfill or incinerator and so also should expect to pay for recycling. Assessing how recycling will impact your community requires a full appraisal of the environmental and economic benefits and costs of recycling, as compared to the one-way consumption of resources from disposing of used products and packaging in landfills and incinerators. Analyzing all of these factors together will help you determine if recycling is more cost effective in your community.

The report, Anti-Recycling Myths: Commentary on Recycling is Garbage Exit EPA Disclaimer, by John F. Ruston and Richard A. Denison, Ph.D. of the Environmental Defense Fund, provides one point of view on the costs and benefits of recycling and waste disposal.

The Business and the Environment Allied for Recycling (BEAR) is conducting a value chain assessment that analyzes the costs of curbside recycling and bottle bills. The report will be available through BEAR's Web site Exit EPA Disclaimer.

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If there is plenty of landfill space, then why should I recycle?

Recycling offers a host of environmental, economic, and societal benefits (see Question "Is Recycling Worthwhile?"). While landfill space is plentiful on the national level, some areas of the United States, particularly the heavily populated East Coast, have less landfill capacity and higher landfill costs.

Communities can make money and avoid high disposal costs by selling certain recyclable materials. Markets for recovered materials fluctuate, however—as markets do for all commodities—depending on a variety of economic conditions. Find more information on the value of recovered materials Exit EPA Disclaimer.

A report released by the National Recycling Coalition Exit EPA Disclaimer at the end of 2001 offers perhaps the most compelling evidence of how and why recycling makes good economic sense. Simply put, recycling creates jobs and generates valuable revenue for the United States. According to The U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study, more than 56,000 recycling and reuse establishments in the United States employ approximately 1.1 million people, generate an annual payroll of $37 billion, and gross $236 billion in annual revenues. According to the report, the number of workers in the recycling industry is comparable to the automobile and truck manufacturing industry and is significantly larger than mining and waste management and disposal industries. In addition, wages for workers in the recycling industry are notably higher than the national average for all industries, according to the report. For additional information on the economic impact of recycling, visit EPA's Jobs Through Recycling Web site.

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How does recycling save energy?

Harvesting, extracting, and processing the raw materials used to manufacture new products is an energy-intensive activity. Reducing or nearly eliminating the need for these processes, therefore, achieves huge savings in energy. Recycling aluminum cans, for example, saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from its virgin source, bauxite. The amount of energy saved differs by material, but almost all recycling processes achieve significant energy savings compared to production using virgin materials.

In 2000, recycling resulted in an annual energy savings of at least 660 trillion BTUs, which equals the amount of energy used in 6 million households annually. In 2005, recycling is conservatively projected to save 900 trillion BTUs, equal to the annual energy use of 9 million households.

For more information on recycling and energy reduction, check out the EPA brochure Puzzled About Recycling's Value? Look Beyond the Bin (PDF) (16 pp, 317K, about PDF). A white paper on the energy benefits of waste management is available at EPA's Climate and Waste Web site, under the "Publications" link.

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What effects do waste prevention and recycling have on global warming?

Image of the Earth with its ozone layer and the sun shining down on it

Everyone knows that reducing waste is good for the environment because it conserves natural resources. What many people don't know is that solid waste reduction and recycling also have an impact on global climate change.

The manufacture, distribution, and use of products—as well as management of the resulting waste—all result in greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the upper atmosphere, occur naturally and help create climates that sustain life on our planet. Increased concentrations of these gases can contribute to rising global temperatures, sea level changes, and other climate changes.

Waste prevention and recycling—jointly referred to as waste reduction—help us better manage the solid waste we generate. But reducing waste is a potent strategy for reducing greenhouse gases because it can:

Reduce emissions from energy consumption. Recycling saves energy. Manufacturing goods from recycled materials typically requires less energy than producing goods from virgin materials. When people reuse goods or when products are made with less material, less energy is needed to extract, transport, and process raw materials and to manufacture products. When energy demand decreases, fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.

Reduce emissions from incinerators. Recycling and waste prevention divert materials from incinerators and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste combustion.

Reduce methane emissions from landfills. Waste prevention and recycling (including composting) divert organic wastes from landfills, reducing the methane that would be released if these materials decomposed in a landfill.

Increase storage of carbon in forests. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in wood in a process called "carbon sequestration." Waste prevention and recycling paper products allows more trees to remain standing in the forest, where they can continue to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

For more information about the relationship between solid waste and climate change, go to EPA's Climate Change & Waste page.

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What materials are most commonly recycled in the United States through collection programs?

Bar chart depicting US Recycling Rates for 2006

US recycling rates for commonly recycled consumer goods in 2006 are listed below:

EPA's annually updated report, Municipal Solid Waste in the US: 2006 Facts and Figures, describes the national MSW stream based on data collected since 1960. The historical perspective provided is useful for establishing trends in the types of MSW generated and the ways in which it is managed.

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What product is taking up the most space in US landfills?

The item most frequently encountered in MSW landfills is plain old paper—on average, it accounts for more than 40 percent of a landfill's contents. This proportion has held steady for decades and in some landfills has actually risen. Newspapers alone can take up as much as 13 percent of the space in US landfills.

Organic materials, including paper, do not easily biodegrade once they are disposed of in a landfill. Paper is many times more resistant to deterioration when compacted in a landfill than when it is in open contact with the atmosphere. Research by William Rathje, who runs the Garbage Project , has shown that, when excavated from a landfill, newspapers from the 1960s can be intact and readable.

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What materials are not safe to throw in my trash?

Image of examples of household hazardous waste: Cleaning fluid bottle, panint can, paint brush, and batteries

Chances are, there are certain items or products in your house that you should not throw out in the trash. Many common household items, such as paint, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides, contain hazardous components. Leftover portions of these products are called household hazardous waste (HHW). These products, if mishandled, can be dangerous to human health and the environment.

Certain types of HHW can cause physical injury to sanitation workers, contaminate septic tanks or wastewater treatment systems if poured down drains or toilets, and present hazards to children and pets if left around the house. Some communities have special programs that allow residents to dispose of HHW separately. Others allow disposal of properly prepared HHW in trash, particularly those areas that do not yet have special HHW collection programs in place. Call your local Department of Sanitation or Department of Public Works for instructions on proper disposal. Follow their instructions and also read product labels for disposal directions to reduce the risk of products exploding, igniting, leaking, mixing with other chemicals, or posing other hazards on the way to a disposal facility. Even empty containers that used to contain HHW can pose hazards because of the residual chemicals inside.

Find more information on household hazardous waste and its safe disposal.

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How do I know what materials are recyclable in my community, and where can I take these materials to be recycled?

Most communities employ recycling coordinators—government officials who have information on local recycling resources—who can answer specific questions about recycling and waste management in your city or town. Look in your phone book under "Recycling Coordinators," or contact the relevant city or county government office (often called Department of Sanitation or Department of Public Works). Your state Department of Environmental Protection or Department of Natural Resources also may have helpful resources. EPA's Web site has links to these state offices.

Earth911 Exit EPA Disclaimer is another helpful resource that allows you to type in your ZIP code or find your state on a map to locate recycling centers in your community for all types of recyclables. You also can visit the National Recycling Coalition Exit EPA Disclaimer for a list of state recycling organizations.

Your local recycling program should be able to provide you with a list of materials that can be collected for recycling in your community. Following is a short list of the most common materials that are recycled in many communities:

Paper: Newspaper is almost always recovered in community recycling programs. Some communities also collect white and colored paper (sometimes combined as "mixed paper") and used cardboard boxes, such as cereal boxes.

Plastics: Not all communities recycle all types of plastic. Investigate your community's plastic collection through the resources listed above. Most communities recycle plastic items such as detergent bottles, beverage containers (e.g., soda, milk, and juice), and containers for various household products, from shampoo, lotion, and mouthwash containers to plastic peanut butter containers. Also, many grocery stores collect used plastic grocery bags on site for recycling.

Aluminum: Almost all recycling programs include aluminum beverage cans. One of the most highly recycled products, aluminum cans are made into new cans in as little as 90 days after they are collected. Some communities also collect aluminum foil for recycling.

Steel: Many steel products manufactured in the United States contain a high percentage of recycled steel. Some are even made from 100 percent recycled steel. Many communities collect soup cans and other steel food packaging containers, as well as steel aerosol cans, for recycling.

Glass: Glass food containers, such as jars and bottles for pickles, juice, jam, or wine, are usually recyclable in many communities.

Yard Trimmings/Food Scraps: Many communities have regular or seasonal programs in place to collect yard trimmings, such as leaves, branches, and grass clippings, from residents. Other communities encourage residents to practice backyard composting for yard trimmings and food scraps.

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What happens to my recyclables after I put them out at the curbside?

Image of chasing arrows indicating the three steps of the recycling process: 1) Collecting and processing materials; 2) Manufacturing new products from recovered materials; and 3) Purchasing products containing recycled-content

After you put your recyclables out on the curb, they begin a circular journey during which they are processed and manufactured into new recycled-content products, which are sold in stores to consumers, who can then repeat the process. Below is a brief summary of the three phases of the recycling loop. Detailed description.

Step 1. Collection and Processing
After recyclables are collected at the curb or from a drop-off center, haulers take them to a materials recovery facility, where they are sorted and baled.

Step 2. Manufacturing
Once they are cleaned, separated, and baled, recyclables are remanufactured into new products. Many consumer products, such as newspapers, aluminum and steel cans, plastic containers and other plastic products, and glass bottles, are now manufactured with total or partial recycled content.

Step 3. Purchasing Recycled Products
Purchasing recycled products completes the recycling loop. By "buying recycled," governments, businesses, and individual consumers each play an important role in making the recycling process a success. Learn more about recycling terminology and to find tips on identifying recycled products.

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How can I start a recycling/composting program in my community?

Starting a local recycling program might not be as tough as you think. Your first step should be to get in touch with the proper authorities in your area. Most communities have recycling coordinators—government officials who have information on local recycling resources. Look in your phone book under "recycling coordinators" or contact your local Department of Public Works or Department of Sanitation.

You also can visit EPA's Office of Solid Waste Concerned Citizen page and EPA's WasteWise Web site to find information and resources to help you start, maintain, or expand a recycling program in your community.

If you have specific questions about solid waste management in your community, contact your EPA regional office, or your state agency.

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Can you help me find informational materials (posters, pamphlets, etc.) to encourage participation in recycling and other issues in my community?

View a list of EPA's recycling publications and materials. These materials are downloadable or available from EPA at no charge.

EPA offers the following additional materials designed to encourage children and adults to recycle. These materials are available on EPA's Web site.

Planet Protectors Club Kit is a kit that takes children on a learning adventure with challenging activity books, educational games, and mysterious stories that illustrate "the three Rs."

A Collection of Solid Waste Resources
Interactive CD-ROM containing many of the electronic files for publications and materials created by EPA's Office of Solid Waste, with topics ranging from recycling and municipal solid waste to home health care, household hazardous waste, composting, and life cycle management. The most recent addition also contains games and activities for children.

Volunteer for Change–A Guide To Environmental Community Service
Resource booklet designed to assist citizens interested in initiating environmental volunteer projects. Includes "the ABCs of volunteering," as well as short descriptions of 12 environmental volunteer activities undertaken by citizens across the nation.

Non-EPA resources to promote recycling include:

Sample Recycling Posters Exit EPA Disclaimer

The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) Exit EPA Disclaimer is offering free recycling information materials to support office paper reduction campaigns. CIWMB also provides clip art Exit EPA Disclaimer and publications and resources Exit EPA Disclaimer to help promote any recycling effort.

The Glass Packaging Institute Exit EPA Disclaimer provides recycling resources and a recycling educational guides for teachers.

The Steel Recycling Institute Exit EPA Disclaimer provides steel recycling resources, publications, and educational materials.

TAPPI Exit EPA Disclaimer, the technical association for the worldwide pulp, paper, and converting industry, provides an educational Web site for teachers and students about paper recycling that includes a variety of resources and links.

The National Recycling Coalition (NRC), Exit EPA Disclaimer a coalition of businesses, environmental groups, and individuals interested in promoting recycling, includes recycling resources and recycling advocacy information.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) Exit EPA Disclaimer is a nonprofit organization that provides information to educate individuals about litter prevention and ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and properly manage waste materials.

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My community just started to charge residents based on the amount of garbage they throw away. Why is this necessary? What are the benefits of Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) programs?

Image for a Pay-As-You-Throw program, representing a container and a bag with whcih waste is collected, and a recycling bin with which recyclables are collected

Traditionally residents pay for waste collection and disposal through property taxes or a fixed fee, regardless of how much—or how little—trash they generate. Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) programs break with tradition by treating trash services just like electricity, gas, and other utilities. Households pay a variable rate depending on the amount of garbage they throw away. More than 5,000 communities across the United States have a PAYT program in place. In most of these programs, residents are charged a fee for each bag or can of waste they generate. The less individuals throw away, the less they pay.

EPA supports this approach to solid waste management for three main reasons:

Environmental sustainability. Communities with programs in place have reported significant increases in recycling and reductions in waste, due primarily to the cost incentive created by PAYT. Less waste and more recycling mean that fewer natural resources need to be extracted.

Economic sustainability. PAYT is an effective tool for communities struggling to cope with soaring MSW management expenses. Well designed programs help communities generate the revenues they need to cover their solid waste management costs, including the costs of recycling and composting programs. Residents benefit, too, because they have the opportunity to take control of their trash bills.

Equity. When the cost of managing trash is hidden in taxes or charged at a flat rate, residents who recycle and prevent waste subsidize their neighbors' wastefulness. Under PAYT, residents pay only for what they throw away.

For more information, visit EPA's PAYT Web site.

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What are deposit-refund systems?

Under a deposit-refund system, certain products or containers have a special front-end surcharge, or deposit, placed on them by manufacturers. This surcharge is then refunded to the consumer when he or she returns quantities of the containers or products for recycling or proper disposal.

Historically, deposit-refund systems have been applied, primarily at the state level, to glass, aluminum, or plastic drink bottles and cans. Nine states currently have a 5-cent deposit-refund on soft-drink bottles and cans, and one state has a 10-cent deposit-refund. These systems are being expanded to include other types of products as well. For example, in some areas deposit refunds are being applied to office products, such as photocopy machine toner cartridges. States like Maine and Rhode Island have established deposit-refund systems to encourage the recycling of lead-acid/automobile batteries.

State deposit-refund systems provide an incentive to recycle and, therefore, reduce the quantity of solid waste produced. The systems also can help state regulatory agencies reach their enforcement and compliance program objectives by reducing the need for additional regulatory resources. Theoretically, any product that is currently disposable and contains materials that can be reused is a candidate for a deposit-refund system.

For more information on deposit-refund systems, check out EPA's Environmental Finance Program – A Guidebook of Financial Tools (PDF) (7 pp, 13K, about PDF)

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