General Overview of What's In America's Trash

For updated percentages and figures, please see Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures

**Table of Trash Types and Percentages**
Trash Type	Percentage	Tonnage
paper	40.4%	71.6 million tons
yard trimmings	17.6%	31.6 million tons
metals	8.5%	15.3 million tons
plastics	8.0%	14.4 million tons
food scraps	7.4%	13.2 million tons
glass	7.0%	12.5 million tons
other	11.6%	20.8 million tons (e.g., rubber, leather, textiles, wood, miscellaneous inorganic wastes)