Food is the largest category of waste sent to landfills
In 2018 the U.S. buried about 146 million tons of municipal solid waste in landfills. Nearly one-third of this amount was food or yard wastes – organic materials that could be composted instead. Another 26% was metals, glass and paper, all of which typically can be recycled.
Donut chart showing the breakdown of wastes landfilled in the U.S. in 2018 by category.
