Recycling statistics show major differences between materials, regions, and measurement systems. The United States figures below are mainly from 2018, England’s household figures are for 2024, EU figures are for 2023, and the global plastics figures are for 2019 unless a projection is stated.
Contents
- U.S. municipal waste baseline
- U.S. packaging and material rates
- Everyday U.S. recycling streams
- England household waste
- European Union waste and packaging
- Global plastic waste and recycling
U.S. municipal waste baseline
The United States generated 292.4 million short tons of municipal solid waste in 2018. It recycled 69.0 million short tons and composted 24.9 million short tons of food and yard trimmings. Including composting, the U.S. recycling rate was 32.1% in 2018. These figures come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling (EPA, 2018).
On a per-person-per-day basis, U.S. municipal solid waste recycling averaged 1.16 pounds in 2018, while municipal solid waste composting averaged 0.42 pounds per person per day. The measures describe average daily quantities, not the amount placed in a particular household collection bin.
Material performance varied sharply. Paper and paperboard recycling reached 68.2%, equal to 46.0 million short tons. Yard-trimmings composting was 63%, or 22.3 million short tons. Food and other municipal-solid-waste organics composting was only 4.1%, or 2.6 million short tons. The last figure covers the stated category and should not be treated as a rate for all organic waste.
U.S. packaging and material rates
U.S. containers and packaging generated 82.22 million short tons in 2018. Of that total, 44.33 million short tons were recycled and 30.47 million short tons were sent to landfills. The resulting containers-and-packaging recycling rate was 53.9%, according to the EPA’s Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data (EPA, 2018).
The broad packaging rate hides significant differences among materials:
| U.S. packaging category, 2018 | Generation | Recycling rate or amount |
|---|---|---|
| Corrugated boxes | 33.3 million short tons | 96.5% |
| Paper and paperboard packaging | 41.9 million short tons | 80.9% |
| Plastic containers and packaging | 14.5 million short tons | 13.6% |
| PET bottles and jars | Not stated in the supplied measure | 29.1%, or 910,000 short tons |
Corrugated boxes therefore had a much higher reported recycling rate than plastic containers and packaging in the same year. The PET bottle-and-jar measure is narrower than the overall plastic containers-and-packaging measure, so the percentages should not be read as interchangeable.
The EPA packaging data also provide an important scope distinction: 53.9% describes containers and packaging as a group, while 13.6% describes overall plastic containers and packaging. Neither figure is a recycling rate for all U.S. municipal solid waste.
Everyday U.S. recycling streams
Common household and consumer materials also show a wide spread in reported recycling performance. The EPA’s How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables reports that the United States generated 12.3 million short tons of glass in 2018, with a 31.3% glass recycling rate. It generated 3.9 million short tons of aluminum municipal solid waste, and the total aluminum-items recycling rate was 34.9% (EPA, 2018).
Lead-acid batteries were a high-performing stream by comparison. The United States recycled 2.9 million lead-acid batteries in 2018, and lead-acid batteries represented 99% of U.S. generation recycled in the stated measure. This battery statistic is expressed as a count and percentage, while the glass and aluminum figures are expressed in short tons and rates; they are not directly comparable as quantities.
Consumer electronics generated 2.7 million short tons in the United States in 2018. About 38.5% were recycled. That rate is higher than the reported glass rate but lower than the reported paper, corrugated-box, and lead-acid-battery figures. The electronics number covers the category described by the EPA source rather than every type of electrical equipment.
Plastic bags, sacks, and wraps generated 4.20 million short tons in the United States in 2018. Their recycling rate was 10%, according to the EPA’s Frequent Questions regarding EPA’s Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling (EPA, 2018). That measure is specifically for bags, sacks, and wraps, not all plastic packaging.
England household waste
England generated 21.9 million tonnes of waste from households in 2024, equivalent to 376 kilograms per person. It sent 9.6 million tonnes for recycling. The waste-from-households recycling rate was 43.8% when incinerator-bottom-ash metal was included, or 42.8% when that metal was excluded.
These are England household-waste measures for 2024, not a direct continuation of the U.S. 2018 series. The source is the UK government’s Local authority collected waste management – annual results 2024/25. The difference between the two rates illustrates why the definition used in a recycling statistic matters.
Dry recycling accounted for 5.5 million tonnes of England’s household waste in 2024. Separately collected food waste reached 535 thousand tonnes, while other organic household waste totaled 3.5 million tonnes. Dry recyclate made up 57.5% of all waste-from-households recycling in England.
Within England’s dry recycling, paper and card accounted for 1.913 million tonnes in 2024. Glass accounted for 1.183 million tonnes and plastic for 511 thousand tonnes. These material amounts are components of the dry-recycling measure, so they should not be added to the separately collected food-waste or other-organic figures without a matching definition and scope.
European Union waste and packaging
EU municipal waste generation averaged 511 kilograms per person in 2023, while municipal waste recycling averaged 246 kilograms per person. The EU municipal waste recycling rate was 48.0%. Eurostat reports these figures in Municipal waste down by second consecutive year (Eurostat, 2023).
The same EU municipal-waste measure recorded incineration at an average of 129 kilograms per person, or 25.2%, and landfilling at 115 kilograms per person, or 22.5%. Incineration and landfilling are separate treatment outcomes from the recycling amount; the percentages provide context for the treatment mix rather than a material-specific recycling rate.
Packaging performed differently from municipal waste overall. The EU packaging-waste recycling rate was 67.5% in 2023, based on Eurostat’s Recycling targets and rates for packaging waste. The packaging rate covers packaging waste and should not be substituted for the 48.0% municipal-waste rate.
Plastic packaging was a weaker-performing part of that picture. EU plastic-packaging recycling was 42.1% of generated plastic packaging waste in 2023. Belgium had the highest EU plastic-packaging recycling rate at 59.5% in the reported comparison. Those figures are from Eurostat’s Plastic packaging waste in the EU: 35.3 kg per person. The Belgium figure is a country result, while 42.1% is an EU-level result.
Global plastic waste and recycling
Global plastic-waste generation reached 353 million tonnes in 2019. An estimated 55 million tonnes, or 15% of global plastic waste, were collected for recycling. Of the plastic collected for recycling, 22 million tonnes were disposed of rather than becoming recycled output. These estimates are reported in the OECD’s Plastics flows and their impacts on the environment: Global Plastics Outlook (OECD, 2019).
The collection figure therefore does not mean that all collected material became recycled plastic. In the same 2019 global accounting, secondary plastics represented barely 6% of total global plastics use. Global plastic waste and residues incinerated in industrial facilities totaled 67 million tonnes, while plastic waste disposed of in sanitary landfills totaled 174 million tonnes.
The OECD baseline is a projection, not a measurement of the future. It projects global plastic use to rise from 460 million tonnes in 2019 to 1,231 million tonnes in 2060. In that baseline, secondary plastics’ share of overall plastics production increases from 6% in 2019 to 12% in 2060. The projection describes a scenario and should not be presented as a guaranteed outcome.
Together, these global figures distinguish plastic waste generation, collection for recycling, recycled output, incineration, landfilling, and future modeled production. Keeping those measures separate is essential when comparing recycling statistics across countries or materials.