While California is grappling with this question most of the rest of the states in the country don’t have a mandate for recycling, and even if they do, very few have penalties if the mandate is not achieved. The nationwide average for diversion hovers around 33%. This explains why the United States creates more waste per capita than any other country! The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but creates 30% of world garbage.  We throw away 16% more per capita than Canadians; 26% more than Brits; and 46% more than residents of Japan.  It could be argued that individuals in those countries have at least a standard of life equal to, if not better than ours.

No matter where we live, we could all be doing a better job of capturing our wasted resources for reuse, recycling and composting. Even here in California, a state that’s taken the lead in reducing waste, over 60% of what we throw in the garbage could still be recycled or composted. It’s hard to imagine those crushed cans, crumpled papers, and plastic bottles as valuable, but many trash collectors are now making the majority of their profits from selling recyclable materials! Even those rotting food scraps can be turned into rich, valuable composts and mulches. When communities wake up to the fact that they are paying large sums to bury, burn or send away resources that have value they will begin to take a closer look at what they throw away. Until then, there are models out there to help us keep improving.