How to research US landfill and diversion statistics

“Diverted from landfill” can describe several different calculations. A city may include composting and recycling; another may also include construction reuse or combustion. A state may report waste disposed within its borders, including imported tons, while a national series estimates waste generated by US residents and businesses within a municipal-solid-waste scope.

Start with definitions and flow boundaries, not the headline percentage.

Draw the system before copying numbers#

Make a flow diagram with sources, transfer stations, processors, compost sites, combustion facilities and landfills. Mark imports, exports and stockpiles. Then place each published metric on the flow it actually measures.

EPA's latest national Facts and Figures series currently uses 2018 data and estimates generation and management of municipal solid waste. It is not a live landfill scale total and does not cover every industrial or construction stream.

Keep six terms separate#

Generated#

Waste and recovered material arising within the defined scope.

Collected#

Material picked up by a program; collection does not guarantee its final management.

Recycled#

Material counted under the reporting system's recycling definition. Verify whether the metric measures collection, processing output or verified end use.

Composted or organics-managed#

May include yard trimmings, food and other organics. Home composting may be classified as source reduction rather than facility recycling.

Combusted#

Can be reported with or without energy recovery and may or may not count as diversion locally.

Landfilled or disposed#

“Disposed” can include landfill plus combustion in some reports. Read the table notes.

Check facility versus origin accounting#

Landfill reports often measure tons received at facilities. A state that imports waste can report more disposal than its residents generated; an exporting state can report less. For per-capita claims, determine whether the numerator follows origin or facility location.

Transfer stations can cause double counting if their outbound tons are added to the same material's final facility receipt. Look for deduplication rules.

Read composition estimates correctly#

Waste-characterization studies sample loads and classify material. The result estimates composition under a study design; it is not a count of every item. Record seasons, generator sectors, facility types, sample count, moisture treatment and confidence intervals where provided.

Do not multiply a composition percentage from one city by national landfill tons.

Build a transparent comparison table#

Only calculate a comparison after core rows align. Otherwise describe each system separately.

Keep cleanup data in its own lane#

Bag weights and item counts from community cleanup events show what was removed from a defined place. They are not landfill-diversion rates. Record the final destination, but avoid claiming every separated item was recycled unless the receiver confirms it.

Mapped dumping reports can reveal local recurring sites, while before-and-after evidence verifies removal. Neither replaces state facility data.

State limits as part of the result#

Publish the report title, pages, access date and exact denominator. Label estimates, revisions and missing sectors. A conclusion that two diversion rates cannot be ranked is a valid research finding.

Waste statistics become useful when the reader can follow each ton from the defined source to the defined management route without a term changing meaning halfway through.

Check revisions and denominator breaks#

Agencies may revise old years when facility reports arrive or definitions change. Compare the latest table with archived releases and mark revised values. A sudden jump can be a real program change, a newly surveyed sector or a denominator break.

Do not draw a trend line across incompatible methodology without a visible break. When the agency restates the series, prefer its revised values and cite the release date. Preserve the earlier number only to explain why older articles differ, not as a competing current statistic.