The line chart illustrates how many million tons of waste was recycled and the percentage of recycling in the US between 1960 and 2011.
Overall, it is clear that both the total waste recovery and the proportion of recycling increased gradually in the first 25 years. However, these figures experienced a further significant upward trend in the remaining period, reaching their peaks at the end of the survey.
Regarding total waste recovery, in 1960, there were about 5.6 million tons of waste were recycled. The figure then climbed slightly to exactly 8 in 1970 and 16.7 in 1985, before surging remarkably to 55.8 in 1995. Finally, it peaked at precisely 86 in 2011.
The share of recycling also followed a similar pattern. This figure stood at about 6.4% at the beginning. After that, it witnessed a moderate growth to 6.6% in 1970 and approximately 10.1% in 1985. Then, a considerable rise was seen in the proportion of recycling, represented 25.7% in 1995, before climbing steadily and reaching a peak of 34.7% in 2011.
