Volume of U.S. municipal solid plastic waste by disposal 1960-2018
In the United States, the vast majority of plastic in the municipal solid waste stream is landfilled. In 2018, U.S. plastic waste generation totaled 35.7 million tons, of which approximately 27 million tons was disposed of at landfill sites.
While the volume of plastic waste that is recycled has increased significantly since the 1980's, just 3.09 million tons was recycled in 2018.
