Over the past 30 years, communities across the nation have turned to source reduction, recycling, and waste-to-energy to manage their municipal solid waste. According to a 2003 report, during that time, the percentage of trash that is recycled has grown from ten percent to a national average of 28 percent and the amount of trash that is managed in waste-to-energy plants has grown from nine to 13 percent.
At the local level, communities that have built waste-to-energy plants have an average recycling rate of more than 33 percent-18 percent higher than the national average. In fact, many of the most successful recycling programs in the country are located in communities served by a waste-to-energy facility.
In addition, waste-to-energy facilities annually recycle more than 700,000 tons of ferrous metals and another 450,000 tons of glass, metals, paper, plastics, yard waste, and other reusable materials.
The article, Recycling and Waste-to-Energy: The ongoing compatibility success story, provides additional information on this subject.