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Socio-Economic Tools - Solid Waste
"One man's trash is another man's treasure."Municipal Solid Waste Generation Projections
If you wish to evaluate the remaining capacity of your landfill or want
to evaluate your waste incinerator's ability to handle expected increases
in population, you will need to calculate solid waste generation rates
and project them into the future.
The first tip for anyone attempting to prepare municipal solid waste generation numbers would be to seek available municipal generation statistics from local, county, or state sources. Many counties and local municipalities have recently prepared municipal solid waste management plans which project future waste flows. These projections have usually been carefully developed and scrutinized and tailored to local waste generation practices.
If you still wish to develop your own generation numbers or if they are not available in your community, the following information will help. This information comes from the report, "Municipal Solid Waste in the United States 2000 Facts and Figures" by Franklin Associates, Ltd., for the U.S EPA.
- In the U.S. the national per capita garbage generation rate was 4.4 pounds per day in 1997 with the trend in an upward direction.
- The per capita discard rate (after recovery for recycling, including composting) was 3.2 pounds per person per day in 1997, up from 3.1 pounds per person per day in 1996.
- Recycling (including composting) recovered 28 percent (61 million tons) of municipal solid waste in 1997, up from 27 percent (57 million tons) in 1996.
- The waste generated was composed mainly of paper and paperboard, yard waste, food waste, plastics, metals, glass, and wood. The table below identifies the percent of the waste stream comprised by each of the variety of materials. Note, that these are national averages for the U.S. Your community's waste composition may differ and, in fact, will even change by season. For instance, yard waste will comprise a higher percentage in the summer than in the winter.
| Material | % of Total Waste Generated - US 1997 |
|---|---|
| Paper and Paperboard | 38.6 |
| Glass | 5.5 |
| Ferrous Metals | 5.7 |
| Aluminum | 1.4 |
| Other Non-Ferrous | 0.6 |
| Plastic | 9.9 |
| Textiles | 3.8 |
| Wood | 5.3 |
| Food Waste | 10.1 |
| Yard Waste | 12.8 |
| Rubber & Leather | 3.0 |
| Other Waste | 3.3 |
| Total: | 100.0 |