The line graph illustrates the garbage recycling rates in the US over the 51-year timeline starting from 1960.
Overall, it can be clearly seen that both total garbage recovery and recycling rate experienced a similar upward trend over the given period. Another outstanding feature is that the amount of total waste exceeded the percentage of garbage being recycled by the end of the period.
The amount of waste being recycled was recorded at 5.6 million tons in the first year of the given period, and then it witnessed a slight increase to 9.3 million tons in the next fifteen years before rising steadily to 16.7 million tons in 1985. From 1975 onwards, there was a dramatic growth, peaking at 86.9 million tons in the final year, which was about a 17-fold rise compared to the initial figure.
Turning to the remaining category, starting at just 6,4% in 1960, and then it manifested a slight rise to 10.1%, after which it climbed significantly to 25.7% ten years. This was followed by a gradual growth, reaching 34,7% by the end of the period.