The chart decribes the changes in the proportion of waste recycled in the US between 1960 and 2011. On the whole, the waste recovery and percent recycling had intially a small figure. Nevertheless, this trend increased considerably after that.
In the first 15 years period, the amount of waste recovery increasing was very little, about 1 to 1,5 million tons each 5 years. In 1960, there were 5,6 million tons waste, and this numbers were modest until 1980 (9,3 million tons waste recycled). It was comparable with the recycling rates, which was less than 9%. Between 1975 to 1985, there was an average increase, reaching at 16,7 in waste recovery and 10,1% in percent recycling.
On the remain period of this graph, the rubbish recovered rose significantly by 10 to 20 million tons, peaking at 86,9 million tons in 2011. The rates of waste recycled witnessed a slight rise, only accounting for one third of the total waste recycled.