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U.S. landfill reference

110 U.S. Landfill Statistics: Waste, Gas & Methane Facts

Landfill statistics are easy to misuse: a landfill-gas project count is not a landfill count, and a municipal-solid-waste figure does not cover every kind of material disposed. This guide answers the core questions first, then provides the supporting evidence.

Published by
Wastemanagement Jobs Editorial Team
Last source check
Coverage
United States; EPA 2000–2023 landfill-gas program series and 2018 materials data
Source policy: We cite EPA’s primary data on every fact. Program-assisted landfill-gas projects are not treated as a count of every U.S. landfill.

At a glance

The numbers worth knowing first

146.1M

tons of MSW landfilled in 2018

EPA’s national municipal-solid-waste estimate. It does not include every waste stream that can enter a landfill.

EPA materials facts

50%

of 2018 MSW went to landfill

That share is based on the 292.4 million tons of MSW EPA estimated were generated that year.

EPA materials facts

542

operating landfill-gas projects in 2023

This is EPA’s count of operating projects in its Landfill Methane Outreach Program, not every landfill.

EPA LMOP accomplishments

110 sourced facts, organised by the questions readers actually ask. The supporting detail follows the quick picture above.

Landfill gas

How landfill-gas projects are counted

Landfill gas forms as organic material decomposes. EPA’s project series tracks gas-to-energy projects and their modeled emissions reductions; it is not a national inventory of disposal facilities.

Use this section for the project trend. The source year matters because project totals and emissions estimates change over time.

  1. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 9.49 MMTCO2e in 2000.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2000
  2. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 18.03 MMTCO2e in 2005.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2005
  3. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 18.97 MMTCO2e in 2006.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2006
  4. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 22.05 MMTCO2e in 2007.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2007
  5. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 22.92 MMTCO2e in 2008.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2008
  6. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 24.74 MMTCO2e in 2009.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2009
  7. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 27.15 MMTCO2e in 2010.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2010
  8. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 29.89 MMTCO2e in 2011.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2011
  9. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 32.00 MMTCO2e in 2012.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2012
  10. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 44.01 MMTCO2e in 2013.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2013
  11. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 43.14 MMTCO2e in 2014.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2014
  12. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 42.52 MMTCO2e in 2015.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2015
  13. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 46.09 MMTCO2e in 2016.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2016
  14. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 46.36 MMTCO2e in 2017.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2017
  15. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 44.07 MMTCO2e in 2018.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2018
  16. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 40.63 MMTCO2e in 2019.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2019
  17. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 36.73 MMTCO2e in 2020.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2020
  18. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 29.21 MMTCO2e in 2021.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2021
  19. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 27.83 MMTCO2e in 2022.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2022
  20. LMOP annual methane and CO2 emission reductions were 25.91 MMTCO2e in 2023.EPA LMOP accomplishments · 2023
  21. 45.97 million tons of Paper and paperboard recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  22. 4.20 million tons of Paper and paperboard combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  23. 17.22 million tons of Paper and paperboard landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  24. 155.17 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Paper and paperboard.EPA materials facts · 2018
  25. 3.06 million tons of Glass recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  26. 1.64 million tons of Glass combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  27. 7.55 million tons of Glass landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  28. 0.90 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Glass.EPA materials facts · 2018

Material flows

What is sent to landfill

EPA’s national materials tables show the management of municipal solid waste by material. The figures are a national accounting series, not a description of one local landfill.

The items below name both the material and the pathway so “sent to landfill” is not confused with generation or recycling.

  1. 6.36 million tons of Steel recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  2. 2.31 million tons of Steel combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  3. 10.53 million tons of Steel landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  4. 15.50 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Steel.EPA materials facts · 2018
  5. 0.67 million tons of Aluminum recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  6. 0.56 million tons of Aluminum combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  7. 2.66 million tons of Aluminum landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  8. 6.12 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Aluminum.EPA materials facts · 2018
  9. 1.69 million tons of Other nonferrous metals recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  10. 0.08 million tons of Other nonferrous metals combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  11. 0.74 million tons of Other nonferrous metals landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  12. 7.54 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Other nonferrous metals.EPA materials facts · 2018
  13. 8.72 million tons of Total metals recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  14. 2.95 million tons of Total metals combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  15. 13.93 million tons of Total metals landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  16. 29.16 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Total metals.EPA materials facts · 2018
  17. 3.09 million tons of Plastics recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  18. 5.62 million tons of Plastics combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  19. 26.97 million tons of Plastics landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  20. 4.13 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Plastics.EPA materials facts · 2018
  21. 1.67 million tons of Rubber and leather recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  22. 1.73 million tons of Rubber and leather combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  23. 0.78 million tons of Rubber and leather landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  24. 0.17 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Rubber and leather.EPA materials facts · 2018
  25. 2.51 million tons of Textiles recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  26. 3.22 million tons of Textiles combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  27. 11.30 million tons of Textiles landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  28. 2.56 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Textiles.EPA materials facts · 2018

Recovery and disposal

How landfill compares with other pathways

Recycling, combustion with energy recovery and landfill are separate destinations in EPA’s accounting. Comparing them is useful; adding values from different material scopes is not.

Read each fact as a material-and-year pair. That is the level at which EPA reports the data.

  1. 3.10 million tons of Wood recycled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  2. 2.84 million tons of Wood combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  3. 12.15 million tons of Wood landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  4. 3.30 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Wood.EPA materials facts · 2018
  5. 2.59 million tons of Food, other composted.EPA materials facts · 2018
  6. 7.55 million tons of Food, other combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  7. 35.28 million tons of Food, other landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  8. 6.97 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Food, other.EPA materials facts · 2018
  9. 22.30 million tons of Yard trimmings composted.EPA materials facts · 2018
  10. 2.57 million tons of Yard trimmings combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  11. 10.53 million tons of Yard trimmings landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  12. 0.78 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for Yard trimmings.EPA materials facts · 2018
  13. 0.80 million tons of miscellaneous inorganic wastes combusted with energy recovery.EPA materials facts · 2018
  14. 3.27 million tons of miscellaneous inorganic wastes landfilled.EPA materials facts · 2018
  15. 0.28 MMTCO2E of GHG benefits for miscellaneous inorganic wastes.EPA materials facts · 2018
  16. 68.12 million tons recycled in total.EPA materials facts · 2018
  17. 24.89 million tons composted in total.EPA materials facts · 2018
  18. 33.12 million tons combusted with energy recovery in total.EPA materials facts · 2018
  19. 138.98 million tons landfilled in total.EPA materials facts · 2018
  20. 193.26 MMTCO2E of total GHG benefits.EPA materials facts · 2018
  21. The total generation of MSW was 292.4 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  22. MSW generation was 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  23. Approximately 69 million tons of MSW were recycled in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  24. Approximately 25 million tons of MSW were composted in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  25. Almost 94 million tons of MSW were recycled and composted together in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  26. The MSW recycling and composting rate was 32.1 percent in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  27. An additional 17.7 million tons of food were managed by other methods in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  28. Nearly 35 million tons of MSW were combusted with energy recovery in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018

Reading the numbers

What landfill statistics can and cannot tell you

A good landfill statistic says what was counted, when it was counted and whether it refers to materials or projects. This prevents a national historical estimate from becoming a claim about a particular facility.

The remaining facts provide that traceability for the figures used elsewhere on this page.

  1. MSW combustion with energy recovery represented 11.8 percent of MSW in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  2. MSW landfilling represented 50 percent of MSW in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  3. MSW generation was 268.7 million tons in 2017.EPA materials facts · 2017
  4. MSW generation was 208.3 million tons in 1990.EPA materials facts · 1990
  5. MSW generation increased by approximately 23.7 million tons from 2017 to 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  6. Per-capita MSW generation was 4.5 pounds per person per day in 2017.EPA materials facts · 2017
  7. Paper and paperboard were 23.1 percent of total MSW generation in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  8. Paper and paperboard generation was 87.7 million tons in 2000.EPA materials facts · 2000
  9. Paper and paperboard generation was 67.4 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  10. Food waste generation was 63.1 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  11. Food waste was 21.6 percent of total MSW generation in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  12. Yard trimmings generation was 35.4 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  13. Yard trimmings were 12.1 percent of total MSW generation in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  14. Plastic products generation was 35.7 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  15. Plastic products were 12.2 percent of total MSW generation in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  16. Selected consumer electronics generation was 2.7 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  17. The total MSW recycled was more than 69 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  18. Paper and paperboard accounted for approximately 67 percent of MSW recycling in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  19. The total MSW composted was 25 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  20. Yard trimmings composting was approximately 22.3 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  21. Food composting was 2.6 million tons in 2018.EPA materials facts · 2018
  22. As of September 2024, the United States had 542 operational LFG energy projects.EPA landfill gas · 2024
  23. As of September 2024, 444 U.S. landfills were good candidates for LFG energy projects.EPA landfill gas · 2024
  24. LFG is roughly 50 percent methane.EPA landfill gas · current
  25. LFG is roughly 50 percent carbon dioxide.EPA landfill gas · current
  26. Methane is at least 28 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat over 100 years, per IPCC AR5.EPA landfill gas · AR5

Methodology

How to use these facts accurately

These are not estimates created by Find Waste Jobs. Each card is a short reading of a named public source. Keep the agency, data year, measure and scope beside a number when you quote it; national material-flow data, occupation data and project inventories do not answer the same question.

Primary sources used on this page

Accomplishments of the Landfill Methane Outreach Program

EPA LMOP accomplishments

National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling

EPA materials facts

Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

EPA landfill requirements

Basic Information about Landfill Gas

EPA landfill gas

Keep exploring

Explore the work behind the numbers.

These national references describe systems and occupations. Browse current openings to see the jobs supporting collection, recycling, disposal and operations today.