Recycling Statistics By E-Waste, Plastic, Facts and Trends

Introduction

Recycling Statistics: In today’s world which is full of water, recycling is the most important practice to reduce landfill dumping. The landfills are dishonorably bad, for both us and the environment, releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses like methane into the air. If compared to other developed countries, the United States produces a noteworthy high amount of waste and recycles at a much smaller level.

The recycling statistics reveal that the bulk of our waste ends up in burner and water bodies like rivers and oceans. If we wish to leave this planet for the next generations, we must have a proactive recycling plan at present whether it may be a community, our home, or our office.

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• In Europe, almost 42.8% of all the plastic waste was recycled in 2020.
• If one ton of cardboard recycled can save almost 9 cubic yards of the landfill its most essential to take recycling seriously.
• The glass jars and bottles are almost 100% recyclable and can be recycled without any end with no loss in its purity or quality.
• We could save almost 250,000,000 trees yearly if we recycle all the newspapers.
• The energy saved by recycling just one particular aluminum can run a TV for more than three hours.
• The US recycles almost 34.7% of its total waste which is more than double how it was 14 years back.
• Americans create trash which is almost 185 pounds of plastic every year.
• Almost 75% of the American waste is recycled but we just recycle almost 30% of it.
• Nearly, 110 million glass bottles are put in the trash every day In the United States of which only one-third gets recycled.
• It takes about 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than the other materials used.
• The National Recycling Coalition states of creates 1.1 million jobs and $236 billion in gross yearly sales.
• Recycling plastic saves almost 2 times as much energy as it takes to burn it.
• Practically, 100,000 marine lives die each year from plastic entanglement and ingestion.
• The energy required to create and distribute junk mail in the US for one day can heat almost 250,000 homes.
• Out of the 62 million newspapers that are daily printed in the United States 44 million are mostly thrown away which equals 500,000 trees.

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Recycling Facts and Trends

• As replacement of the roof creates almost 2 to 5 pounds of shingle waste per square foot. And if these damaged shingles are recycled and used then the average sized roof can help pave about 200 feet of the road.
• Nearly 2 tons of unused scrap material is produced in the average construction of a 2,000-square-foot house.
• In the process of each one million cell phones recycled, more than 35,000 pounds of copper, 700 pounds of silver, and about 75 pounds of gold are found.
• In the manufacturing, distribution, and retailing of one computer and monitor it takes almost 500 pounds of fuel, 50 pounds of chemicals, and one ton of water,
• Practically, 50 million tons of e-waste is created globally.70% of the material inside the electronics can be called through recycling and repurposed into other goods or raw materials.
• In the United States, approximately 40 million tons of food waste is generated per year, and of that 95% is discarded. That costs almost 160 billion dollars.
• Virtually, 11 million tons of textile end up in United States landfills per year and on an average of almost 70 pounds each person.
• The waste clothes, bedding, and other clothing materials can be donated and shared with the needy or returned into fibers for other projects if recycled.
• Typically, a family consumes 182 gallons of soda, almost 29 gallons of juice 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water annually. It is to be made sure that these bottles are recycled.
• Each one of us produces almost 4.4 pounds of solid waste every day.
• The motor oil never wears out it just becomes dirty. Oil can be recycled and also re-purified and then used again which would reduce our dependency on the oil imported.
• On average, recycling trash cans costs $30 per ton to recycle, and $50 to send to the landfill.
• Out of each $10 that is spent on buying things, $1 goes for the packing that is thrown away. Therefore, the packing waste is almost 65%.
• The mining and transport of raw material for the glass produces almost 385 pounds of waste for each ton of glass that is made.
• The glass bottle will take almost 4000 years or even more to decompose.
• Recycling plastic saves two times as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
• The people in the US, use 2.5 million plastic bottles each hour! Maximum people throw away plastic without recycling it.
• The minimum household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper annually.
• The American people use almost 85 million tons of paper each year and almost 650 pounds each year.
• Probably, 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away each year in the US.
• The amount of paper and wood that is wasted is enough to heat 50,000 homes for 20 years.
• Aluminum can be recycled and also put back on the grocery shelf as a new can for as little as 60 days.

Waste Generation and Management Statistics Australia

• As per the recent data from Australia’s biennial 2022 National Waste Report, it is generating a whopping 75.8 million tonnes of waste, or around 2.95 tonnes each person in 2021.
• As per the study, Australia’s maximum waste material comes from building and demolition materials with 25.1 Mt recorded in 2021. The waste material includes organics (14.4 Mt), ash (12.0 Mt), and hazardous waste (7.4 Mt).
• Australia states an increasing graph in waste disposal rate in coming.
• The Victorian government will be investing more than 50% between 2020 and 2030 to result in the biggest reform and transformation in the state’s history.
• In 2023, Australia will invest $250 million in recycling procedures.
• The government of South Australia has gaged for zero avoidable waste to end in 2030.
• The Northern Territory has Australia’s lower resources with 19% of the recovery rate.
• Virtually, the recycling rate for metal materials is the highest at 87%.
• As per the study, the recycling rate for plastics is less than 13%.
• China is the basic destination for Australia’s waste and recovery of the material.
• The Australia’s plastic exports have decreased by 41% from 2020- 2022.
• As per recycling statistics, Australia produces almost 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste per year.
• Almost 84% of the plastic waste is disposed of by Australia.
• As per the survey, 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste end up in Australia’s ocean annually.
• By 2050, plastic in the oceans is projected to outweigh fish.
• Annually, 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are seen by bottled water.
• Australia has the highest rate of consumption of single-use plastic waste per capita.

Plastic Recycling Statistics

• Household waste is the major reason for a noteworthy amount of plastic waste per month. If we calculate it is over 30 pounds.
• Plastic waste requires a thousand years to degrade while plastic bottles need almost 450 years to degrade.
• The plastic waste in the sea bodies is the most harmful thing for marine life and human health. Plastic debris absorbs toxic chemicals and can spoil the seafood.
• The single use of plastics like disposable cutlery and straws makes up a noteworthy portion of plastic waste.
• In the United States only, 500 million straws are used and also discarded each day.
• By 2050, plastic bottles will be among the most common items found in ocean debris.
• The recycling rate of plastic waste is at a high rate now, just 14% of the plastic pack is collected for recycling.
• Plastic packing is the most common type of plastic waste that is generated by almost 40%.
• In the United States, the most common form of waste is generated. Almost 35 billion plastic water bottles each year are wasted.
• By 2050, each year almost 380 million tonnes of plastic will be manufactured worldwide.
• Worldwide just 9% of the plastic waste is recycled while 22% is not managed properly.

Global E-Waste Statistics

• In 2020 the e-waste recycling market was at $49,880 million.
• As per recycling statistics, Estonia, Norway, and Iceland have a high e-waste recycling rate.
• Almost 78 countries have a form of legislation for dealing with e-waste.

(Source: theroundup.org)

• Just 17.4% of the e-waste is called to be collected and properly recycled.
• China, the US, and India produce the maximum e-waste globally.
• In 2024, there will be almost 347 Mt of unrecycled e-waste globally.
• In 2021 57.4 million metric tonnes of e-waste was created and almost growing by an average of 2 Mt each year.
• In 2021, it is projected that 57.4 Mt of e-waste will be created worldwide.
• By 2030, Worldwide electronic waste volume is estimated to grow to 74.7 Mt.
• Just 17.4% of the total global e-waste is called to have been collected and properly recycled.
• Europe has almost the highest collection and 42.5% of the recycling rate in Asia.
• Almost 82.6% of electronic waste is not recycled and therefore not documented.
• Recycling just a million used cell phones can recover as much as 772lbs of silver 35,000lbs of copper 75lbs of gold and also 33lbs of palladium.
• It is projected that the 53.6 Mt of e-waste generated contained raw material valued at $57 billion.

Paper Recycling Statistics

• The manufacturing and construction values of a paper mill designed to use waste paper are almost 50% to 80% less than the cost of a mill.
• Almost 17 trees saved can absorb nearly a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. Burning this amount of paper would create 1,500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
• Every ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees 380 gallons of oil and 3 cubic yards of landfill area. This shows 64% of energy saving 58% of saving water and almost 60 pounds less of air pollution.
• Almost 28 million acres of tropical rainforests are cut down every year.
• Virtually, 1 billion trees valued worth of paper are thrown away each year in the United States.
• Almost one American uses 7 trees per year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees, and this amounts to almost 2,000,000,000 trees every year.
• To manufacture almost each week’s Sunday newspaper about 500,000 trees must be cut down.
• As per the recycling statistics, Gift wrapping papers use a large amount of paper waste.
• Companies generate about 12.1 trillion sheets of paper waste.
• In the US, almost 67 million tons of paper and paperboard waste.
• A single person uses almost 700 pounds of paper annually.
• Virtually, 1 billion trees worth of paper ends up in the trash per year.

San Francisco Recycling Statistics

• Yearly, San Francisco gathers almost 15,000 pounds of pharmaceuticals for safe disposal.
• Almost 64% of San Francisco’s total waste was expendable including recyclable or compostable material.
• The San Francisco Unified School District redirected 78% of its waste through recycling and composting.
• San Francisco has almost 1,000 recycling drop-off locations for beverage containers.
• Almost 423,502 gallons of paint were collected and recycled in San Francisco.
• The recycling program in San Francisco has created almost 500 jobs.
• The business and the residents and businesses in San Francisco have rejected almost 1500 tons of waste each day.
• San Francisco had launched a citywide effort to discard plastic straws that have diverted millions of straws from the recycling stream
• San Francisco has banned almost 25 various types of plastic and expanded polystyrene items for good recycling.
• The minimum recycling rate for the household curbside collection in San Francisco is almost 70%.
• The recycling rate in San Francisco was 80% in 2020.

New Zealand’s Recycling Statistics.

• Nearly, 4% of the total waste in New Zealand is sent overseas for recycling.
• New Zealand’s recycling facilities recycle almost 270 tonnes of plastic per month.
• New Zealand has recycled almost 50,966 tonnes of PET plastic waste.
• New Zealand has 800 soft plastic recycling drop-off points all around the country.
• Just 29% of the plastic bottles are sent for recycling which is below the global average of 50%
• Almost 40% of the people in New Zealand’s waste is used as organic compost.

The Highest Total Plastic Waste Per Capita

(Source: greenmatch.co.uk)

• Market research shows that ten countries are responsible for creating the most plastic waste globally. Despite efforts to reduce plastic use, these nations face significant challenges in managing plastic waste effectively.
• The United States leads in plastic waste production, generating over 42 million metric tons annually. Only 5-6% of this waste is recycled, with the majority ending up in landfills or improperly disposed of, causing environmental harm.
• India also struggles with plastic waste, producing 9.46 million tons per year. Lack of proper waste management infrastructure leads to littered streets and overflowing landfills, with 40% of plastic going uncollected.
• China, the largest plastic producer, generates 60 million tons of plastic waste annually. Despite efforts to combat pollution, only 16 million tons are recycled. The country has banned single-use plastics but faces challenges in waste management.
• Brazil, the fourth-largest plastic waste producer, generates 11.3 million tons annually. However, only 1.28% is recycled, leading to environmental threats and marine pollution.
• Japan produces 9 million tons of plastic waste yearly, with 40% being disposable plastics. Despite efficient recycling collection, much waste ends up in landfills or the ocean.
• Indonesia generates 7.8 million tons of plastic waste, with 4.9 million tons mismanaged. The government aims to reduce marine plastic waste by 70% by 2025 through cleanup initiatives.
• Russia’s plastic waste production is increasing, reaching 8.47 million tons annually. The country lacks adequate waste management systems and recycling infrastructure.
• Germany produces 6.5 million tons of plastic waste, with only 38% recycled. Despite being a recycling leader, challenges remain in managing plastic packaging waste.
• The United Kingdom contributes 6.4 million tons of plastic waste annually, despite government efforts to reduce it through measures like plastic bag charges and microbead bans.
• Mexico generates 5.9 million tons of plastic waste, with only 15% recycled. Improper disposal leads to environmental degradation, especially in urban areas like Mexico City.

These countries’ approaches to plastic waste management vary based on their economic status. Wealthier nations can better handle waste through recycling, incineration, or landfilling, while less affluent countries face challenges with uncontrolled dumping or burning.

Low-to-middle-income countries struggle with mismanaged plastic waste, leading to pollution in waterways and oceans. Collaborative global efforts are necessary to address the growing problem of plastic pollution effectively.

Conclusion

These recycling statistics have shed enough light on the noteworthy impact that our daily waste has a huge impact on our environment and therefore it should be saved for our future generations. This study exemplifies the powerful role that we as a community, individuals, and countries can play in diminishing this impact. Whereas the recycling rates are inspiring in a way there is a long way to go.

The process of adopting recycling needs consistent efforts, knowledge, motivation, and most important action. The community’s step toward sustainable living has to be a collective one and that too with an increased concentration on reducing, recycling, and reusing.

Barry Elad

Barry Elad is a tech enthusiast who loves diving deep into various technology topics. He gathers important statistics and facts to help others understand the tech world better. With a keen interest in software, Barry writes about its benefits and how it can improve our daily lives. In his spare time, he enjoys experimenting with healthy recipes, practicing yoga, meditating, or taking nature walks with his child. Barry’s goal is to make complex tech information easy and accessible for everyone.

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