Waste Diversion Graphs

This graph shows trends in what kinds of waste go to landfill in the USA as a whole. The major trend is that all waste has increased mainly do to increase in population and consumption, but they are some other trends that are important to notice. The big one is the drop in amount of paper going to landfill right before 2000, this is due to a nation wide increase in recycling infrastructure and awareness. The only other decreases is in glass, it is much more gradual and beings around 1980, and is perfectly paired with a sudden increase in the amount of plastic thrown away, so this drop has little to do with increased recycling. This data should also be compared to what data we have on the waste we produce at Macalester, which is shown below.

This graph depicts waste and its designation. Macalester has little no data of what our trash is composed of but it can still be a valid comparison. Our overall trash production has gone down since 2008 and all other disposal methods have increased, particularly pig food and composting. The national amount of compostable material and food waste that ends up in land fill has only increased, this could be the result of many factors, main ones being increased population and a lack of composting as a standard service in most places across the US.

This was written by Riley Waters, a student in the Sustainability Office.