Local Hazards Grow as Americans Churn Out More Garbage
Increasing waste, full landfills and shuttered recycling programs mean more cities are paying to send their trash out-of-state.
Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg
As U.S. cities struggle to rein in garbage while propping up pricey recycling efforts, more companies are profiting from America’s growing waste problem and leaving local communities to face the environmental consequences.
At 4.9 pounds of trash per person, per day, the U.S. is the most wasteful country on the planet. Of the 292.4 million tons of refuse Americans generated in 2018, half was buried in landfills while another 32% was recycled or composted, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rest was burned (the preferred term being “combusted”) to generate electricity.