The proportion of four distinct materials that were recycled between 1982 and 2010 is illustrated in the chart.
Overall, the trend of the four materials stayed the same, with paper and carboard being the most recycled materials. It is then followed by glass containers, aluminium cans, and plastics respectively. Paper and cardboard and glass container has shown some fluctuations over the years, while aluminium cans and plastics have showed a relatively steady trend. The recycling of aluminium cans experienced a significant increase from the beginning to the end of the graph, meanwhile other materials stayed relatively the same.
In 1982, paper and cardboard’s recycling rate of around 60% is higher then that of glass containers’ 50%. This stayed true throughout the graph. From 1982 to 1986, paper and cardboard increased a slight increase, while glass containers experienced the opposite. Conversely, both then experienced a decrease of around 5% followed by a major increase of around 15% for paper and cardboard and arou 10% for glass containers. Following that, paper and cardboard steadily declined, while the recycling of glass containers rose slightly over the years, staying at around 70% and 60% respectively.
Aluminium can and plastic’s recycling rate both started at around 5%. This value rose to around 45% in 2010 for alminium cans; however, the value stayed relatively constant for plastice, only increasing about 5% throughout the years.