The graph illustrates changes in the percentages of different kinds of waste that were recycled in a particular town from 2000 to 2010. The four categories of waste are plastic, cans, paper and metal.
Overall, these four kinds of waste all experienced increases during the 10-year period. By 2010, metal accounted for the largest proportion while plastic made up the smallest percentage.
In 2000, the percentages of cans, paper and metal clustered around 12%, whereas the percentage of plastic (10%) was slightly lower than those of the three other wastes. Afterwards, paper and metal saw rapid increases while plastic and cans were reletively stable. By 2005, metal had reached nearly 30%, almost triple its origional figure. Meanwhile, paper had climbed to 18%.
In the second five years, cans witnessed the largest growth of about 12%, exceeding paper to be the second largest group. Metal continued to rise and reached the higest point at 40%, maintaining its top place. The precentage of plastic and paper also increased to 25% and 29%, respectively.