On this page:

• National Key Facts and Figures in the United States
• U.S. State and Local Waste and Materials Characterization Reports

National Key Facts and Figures in the United States

Each year, EPA produces a report called Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Fact Sheet, formerly called Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures. It includes information on municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, recycling, combustion with energy recovery and landfilling. The 2015 fact sheet also includes information on Construction and Demolition Debris generation, which is outside of the scope of MSW.

• Read the Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2015 Fact Sheet

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U.S. State and Local Waste and Materials Characterization Reports

EPA maintains a list of state and local waste characterization studies; reports are not available for all states. You can search for your state in the table below.

For additions, changes or updates, please send new reports to ORCRMeasurement@epa.gov. Most reports exit EPA’s website.The following links exit the site Exit

• Alabama
  • Alabama: Economic Impact of Recycling in Alabama and Opportunities for Growth (2012) (PDF)(16 pp, 309 K, About PDF)
• Alaska
  • No Report Available
• Arizona
  • No Report Available
• Arkansas
  • State of Recycling in Arkansas
• California
  • Cal Recycle Waste Characterization Studies Listing
  • Cal Recycle Data Central (Numerous Characterization Reports and Data)
  • California: Alameda County Waste Characterization Study (2008) (PDF) (571 pg, 2.58 MB, About PDF)
  • California: Palo Alto Waste Composition Study (2006) (PDF)(94 pp, 365 K, About PDF)
  • California: San Francisco Waste Characterization Study (2006) (PDF)(1 pg, 7 K, About PDF)
• Colorado
  • Colorado: Boulder County Waste Composition Study (2010) (PDF) (57 pp, 1.66 MB, About PDF)
  • Colorado: Larimer County Two-season Waste Composition Study (2007) (PDF)(48 pp, 1.27 MB, About PDF)
• Connecticut
  • Connecticut: State-wide Waste Composition and Characterization Study (2010) (PDF)(89 pp, 797 K, About PDF)
• Delaware
  • Delaware Solid Waste Authority Statewide Waste Characterization Study, FY 2016 (PDF)(68 pp, 1.45 MB, About PDF)
• District of Columbia
  • Washington, DC Public Reports on Recycling
• Florida
  • Florida: Alachua County Waste Composition Study (2010) (PDF)(93 pp, 2.5 MB, About PDF)
• Georgia
  • Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2005) (PDF)
• Hawaii
  • Hawaii: City and County of Honolulu Waste Characterization Study (2006) (PDF)(58 pp, 227 K, About PDF)
• Idaho
  • No Report Available
• Illinois
  • Illinois: Chicago Department of Environment Waste Characterization Study (2010) (PDF)(340 pp, 3.21 MB, About PDF)
  • Illinois: Commodity/Waste Generation and Characterization Study (2015) (PDF)(323 pp, 9.3 MB, About PDF)
• Indiana
  • Indiana's new waste characterization study (2012) (PDF)(165 pp, 5.78 MB, About PDF)
• Iowa
  • Iowa: Statewide Waste Characterization (1998) (PDF)(150 pp, 6.28 MB, About PDF)
  • Iowa: Statewide Waste Characterization (2006) (PDF)(170 pp, 1.74 MB, About PDF)
  • Iowa: Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2011) (PDF)(135 pp, 1.31 MB, About PDF)
• Kansas
  • Kansas: Sedgwick County Waste Characterization Study (2013 Update) (PDF)(33 pp, 1.4 MB, About PDF)
• Kentucky
  • No Report Available
• Louisiana
  • No Report Available
• Maine
  • Maine: Residential Waste Characterization Study (2011)
• Maryland
  • Maryland Solid Waste Management and Diversion Report - 2017 (for 2016 Data)(PDF)(83 pp, 2.98 MB, About PDF)
• Massachusetts
  • No Report Available
• Michigan
  • Economic Impact Potential and Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in Michigan 2016 (PDF)(202 pp, 3.91 MB, About PDF)
• Minnesota
  • Minnesota: City of Red Wing Solid Waste Composition Study: Solid Waste Boiler Facility (2009) (PDF) (61 pp, 5.32 Mb, About PDF)
  • Minnesota: Construction, Demolition, and Industrial Waste Study (2007) (PDF)(159 pp, 1.12 Mb, About PDF)
  • Minnesota: Perham Resource Recovery Facility: Solid Waste Composition Study (2012) (PDF) (62 pp, 4.5 Mv, About PDF)
  • Minnesota: Solid Waste Composition Study: Covanta Hennepin Energy Resource Company (2012) (PDF) (27 pp, 685 Kb Mb, About PDF)
  • Minnesota Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2013) (PDF) (59 pp, 1.66 Mb, About PDF)
  • Broader Information on the Minnesota MSW Composition Study
• Mississippi
  • No Report Available
• Missouri
  • Missouri: Waste Composition Study (2008) (PDF)(112 pp, 2.33 MB, About PDF)
• Montana
  • No Report Available
• Nebraska
  • Nebraska: State Waste Characterization Study (2009) (PDF)(2175 pp, 6.41 MB, About PDF)
• Nevada
  • No Report Available
• New Hampshire
  • No Report Available
• New Jersey
  • No Report Available
• New Mexico
  • No Report Available
• New York
  • NYC: Waste Characterization, Processing and Statistics in New York City
• North Carolina
  • North Carolina: Orange County Waste Sort Data
  • North Carolina: Orange County Waste Composition Study (2017)
• North Dakota
  • No Report Available
• Ohio
  • Ohio: Hamilton County Waste Composition Study, 2018
• Oklahoma
  • No Report Available
• Oregon
  • Oregon: Recycling Characterization and Composition Study (2009/2010)
  • Oregon: Recycling Characterization and Composition Study (2006)
  • Oregon: Waste Characterization and Composition Report (2002) (PDF)(102 pp, 1.29 MB, About PDF)
• Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania 2016 County Recycled Materials Report (PDF)(17 pp, 816 K, About PDF)
• Rhode Island
  • No Report Available
• South Carolina
  • South Carolina Solid Waste Management 2018 Report (PDF)(98 pp, 3.92 MB, About PDF)
  • The Economic Impact of the Recycling Industry in South Carolina (PDF)(12 pp, 1.13 MB, About PDF)
• South Dakota
  • South Dakota: Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill Waste Characterization Study (2007)
• Tennessee
  • Tennessee: Waste Characterization Study (2008)
• Texas
  • No Report Available
• Utah
  • No Report Available
• Vermont
  • Vermont: Waste Composition Study (2013) (PDF)(44 pp, 1.47 MB, About PDF)
• Virginia
  • Virginia Annual Recycling Summary Report 2017 (PDF)(10 pp, 546 K, About PDF)
• Washington
  • Washington: Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2015-2016) (PDF)(157 pp, 2.3 MB About PDF)
  • Washington: Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2010) (PDF)(135 pp, 2.37 MB About PDF)
  • Washington: Thurston County Waste Composition Study (2009) (PDF)(104 pp, 729 K About PDF)
  • Washington: Seattle Public Utilities Commission Waste Composition Reports
  • Washington: Seattle Public Utilities Residential Waste Stream Composition Study (2010) (PDF)(112 pp, 972 K About PDF)
  • King County Monitoring Program, 2007 Waste Characterization Study, June 2008 (PDF)(44 pp, 407 K About PDF)
• West Virginia
  • West Virginia Solid Waste Management Plan 2019 (PDF)(212 pp, 5.43 MB, About PDF)
• Wisconsin
  • Wisconsin: State-wide Waste Characterization Study (2009) (PDF)(112 pp, 220 MB About PDF)
  • Wisconsin: Statewide Waste Characterization Study (2003) (PDF)(114 pp, 738 K About PDF)
  • Wisconsin: Waste Characterization and Management Study Update (2002) (PDF)(47 pp, 182 K About PDF)
• Wyoming
  • No Report Available
• International Reports
  • Canada - Metro Vancouver 2015 Waste Composition Monitoring Program (PDF)(71 pp, 8.2 MB About PDF)

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