U.S. landfilled MSW by material 1960-2018

By weight, food is the most landfilled material in the United States' municipal solid waste stream, with 35.3 million tons discarded in 2018. Paper and paperboard was once the most landfilled MSW material, but increased recycling over the years has seen the amount of paper and paperboard sent to landfills drop by 60 percent since 1990. The increasing demand for plastics since the 1960's has seen the volume of this material landfilled increase from 0.39 million tons to 27 million tons. Despite the growth of recycling and combustion with energy recovery, landfilling remains the main waste disposal method in the U.S.

Volume of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled in the United States from 1960 to 2018, by material* (in million tons)

Characteristic	Food	Plastics	Paper and paperboard	Metals	Wood	Textiles	Yard trimmings	Glass	Rubber and leather	Inorganic wastes**	Other***
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Release date

January 2021

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

2018

Supplementary notes

*Landfilling after recycling, composting, other food management pathways and combustion with energy recovery. Does not include construction & demolition debris, industrial process wastes or certain other wastes.
**miscellaneous inorganic wastes in municipal solid waste (MSW) in this analysis includes soil, bits of concrete, and stones.
**** Includes electrolytes in batteries and fluff pulp, feces and urine in disposable diapers.

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