Plastic municipal solid waste recycling rate in the U.S. 1960-2018

In 2018, some 8.7 percent of plastic waste generated in the United States municipal solid waste stream was recycled. The amount of plastic waste recycled in the North American country has remained low since the 1960s, despite the volume of plastic waste generated having increased massively since then. With some 2.9 million tons of plastic waste generated in 1970, the United States now produces more than 30 million tons of plastic each year. And while the recycling rate of plastic waste has increased from less than one percent in 1980 to about 8.7 percent in 2018, the United States still has long way to go to improve their part in the global plastic waste crisis.