EPA Says Municipal Solid Waste Generation Declined in 2009

Date: January 26, 2011

Source: News Room

The latest figures from the US EPA indicate that US waste generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2009 declined by 3.2 percent to 243 million tons from 251 million tons in 2008, representing the second straight year of decline. EPA's figure is in line with statistics gathered independently by Waste Business Journal (WBJ) through direct survey of all waste processing and disposal operations across the US and Canada. According to WBJ, residential volumes of MSW declined by 3 percent from 2008 to 2009 but commercial wastes, accounting for 22 percent of the total waste stream entering municipal facilities, declined by nearly 18 percent. Construction and demolition waste alone was down by close to 20 percent. WBJ statistics differ from those published by the EPA primarily because WBJ examines the entire waste stream, not just that which is attributable to individual citizens. More information is available in WBJ's Waste Market Overview and Outlook Report, updated for 2010.

To learn more about WBJ's Waste Market Overview & Outlook, visit: www.wasteinfo.com/overview.htm, or call (619) 793-5190.

To read the EPA report, visit: www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal.

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