A Closer Look at Garbage

A Closer Look at Garbage Garbage Discarded vs. Garbage Recovered Length of Time to decompose 2 months Food Scraps Yard Trimmings Misc. Inorganic Wastes Corrugated Boxes Other Paper Types Newspapers 6 weeks Other Containers Durable Goods Misc. Plastic Packaging Misc. Non-durables Bottles & Jars 450 years Ferrous Metals Misc. Durable Goods Aluminum Cans 80-200 years Steel Cans Beer & Soft Drink Bottles 1 million years Durable Goods Other Bottles & Jars Wine & Liquor Bottles 50,00 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 In Thousands of Tons Pounds of Garbage per Person per Day Total Garbage Produced 250,000 Composted Composted Recycled 200,000 Recycled Combustion with 150,000 Energy Recovery Combustion with Energy Recovery 3 100,000 2- Landfill & Combustion Landfill & Combustion Without Energy Recovery 1 50,000 Without Energy Recovery 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Even while we reduce per capita garbage production, increasing population rates means a rise in total garbage generated. In Thousands of Tons © Flapjack Media Sources: Environmental Protection Agency, Franklin Associates, New Hampshire Dept of Environmental Services, US National Park Service Glass Metals Plastics Paper Other 4. LO