Where does all this trash end up?
Where does all this trash end up? Environment America Research & Policy Center environmentamerica.org From: action@environmentamerica.org To: MR. Mark M Giese Wed, Mar 25 2026 at 10:35 AM Mark M, Imagine throwing away every single item in an apartment. Now imagine every person in America doing that every single year. That's how much trash we throw away annually: 265.3 million metric tons, about 1,788 pounds per person, the rough equivalent of every single item in a studio apartment. 1 In our newly updated report "Trash in America," we wanted to find out where all that trash was going. Our biggest takeaway? We have a massive trash problem. And it's time to fix it. More than 28% of America's garbage is made up of packaging, material designed to be thrown away as soon as the product is opened. We also throw away around 133 billion pounds of food every year, which makes up one-fifth of our garbage. If all of America's wasted food came from a single farm...
