Pie Charts Summarizing NYC's Waste Streams

These pie charts illustrate the composition of the five waste streams analyzed in the 2004-05 NYC Residential and Street Basket Waste Characterization Study, including:
Waste (refuse + recycling)
Refuse 
Paper recycling
MGP recycling
Street basket refuse

Go to the results of the 2004-05 NYC Residential and Street Basket Waste Characterization Study.

WASTE (REFUSE + RECYCLING)

This pie shows the composition of New York City's entire residential waste stream put out at the curb for collection: refuse, including bulk items, plus the contents of the MGP and Paper recycling bins and bags.

The three largest components of NYC's residential waste stream were Organics (38.89%), Recyclable Paper (22.78%), and Other Plastic (11.93%).

How much of the New York City's residential waste stream is targeted for recycling? On an annualized basis, the answer is 35.38%. This figure can be broken down into the following categories:

• 22.78% Recyclable Paper (shown in the green slice of the pie chart)
• 5.67% Recyclable Metal (the sum of the dark blue Metal slice (4.92%), plus an additional .75% of the orange Appliances/Electronics slice that consists of metal from appliances)
• 4.30% Recyclable Glass (the pale blue Glass slice, excluding .19% non-recyclable plate and other glass)
• 2.14% Recyclable Plastic (the bright blue slice, consisting of HDPE and PET bottles only)
• .50% Recyclable Beverage Cartons (lightest blue slice).

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REFUSE

This pie chart shows the average composition of the contents of the residential "garbage" bins and bags, as well as bulk items set out for curbside collection.
 
The three largest components of New York City's residential refuse stream were Organics 47.05%, Recyclable Paper 15.03%, and Other Plastic 11.93%.

How much of New York City's residential Refuse stream is composed of materials that should or could be separated out for recycling? The answer is 23.37%. This figure can be broken down into the following categories: 

• 15.03% Recyclable Paper (shown in the green slice of the pie chart)
• 4.06% Recyclable Metal (the sum of the dark blue Metal slice (3.65%), plus an additional .41% of the orange Appliances/Electronics slice that consists of metal from appliances)
• 2.40% Recyclable Glass (the pale blue Glass slice (2.60%), minus .20% non-recyclable plate and other glass)
• 1.48% Recyclable Plastic (the bright blue slice, consisting of HDPE and PET bottles only)
• .40% Recyclable Beverage Cartons (lightest blue slice)

Notes: "Appliances/Electronics" includes metal appliances that are accepted for recycling under NYC's current program. "Glass" includes a small amount of plate or other non-container glass not accepted for recycling under NYC's current program. "Organics" includes food, yard, diapers/feminine hygiene, textiles, and some wood waste. It does not include C&D wood waste. "Other Paper" refers to tissues, napkins, laminated papers, or other papers not accepted for paper recycling under NYC's current program. "Other Plastic " includes plastic containers other than #1/#2 bottles and jugs, as well as plastics bags, wraps, and a wide range of non-recyclable plastic products. Further details on each category can be found in the WCS Results.

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PAPER RECYCLING

This pie shows the average composition of the contents of the residential Paper recycling bins and bags set out for curbside recycling collection.

The largest component was Newspaper (41.55%), followed by Other Recyclable Paper (39.70%), and then Corrugated/Kraft (13.64%).

The remaining categories in this chart show that NYC's residential Paper recycling bins and bags contain a small percentage (5.11%) of materials not designated for Paper recycling. These materials are Non-Recyclable Paper, such as tissues, napkins, paper towels, or hardcover books (2.11%); Film Plastic (.94%) including the clear bags used for curbside set-out; Recyclable Beverage Cartons (.25%); and All Other Materials (1.81% ).

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MGP RECYCLING

This pie chart shows the average composition of the contents of the residential Metals/Glass/Plastic (MGP) recycling bins and bags and bulk items set out for curbside recycling collection.

By weight, Glass and Metal each comprise nearly 1/3 of the pie.

The 32.55% Metal slice of the pie can be broken down into Ferrous Metal (26.30%), Mixed Metal (3.35%), Aluminum (1.98%), and Non-Ferrous Metal (.92%).

The 32.51% Recyclable Glass slice of the pie chart consists of Mixed Cullet (18.06%) and Container Glass (14.45%).

The Recyclable Plastic slice (12.88%) consists of HDPE Bottles (6.42%) and PET Bottles (6.46%). Recyclable Beverage Cartons make up 1.95% of the pie.

The Other category (20.11%) refers to materials not currently designated for MGP recycling. These materials include potentially recyclable glass and plastic (containers and packaging for which markets have yet to be developed), as well as recyclable paper, and other miscellaneous materials.

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STREET BASKET REFUSE

This pie chart shows the average composition of a litter basket on a New York City street corner.

By weight, the largest discernable components of the Street Basket Refuse Stream are Newspaper (15.63%), closely followed by Other Recyclable Paper (15.18%), and then Food Waste (13.53%).

The Other Recyclables slice of the pie consists of small amounts of materials that are designated for recycling in NYC. These are:

• 4.99% Other Metal Cans and Items
• 1.02% Mixed Cullet
• .53% Other Aluminum
• .43% HDPE Plastic Bottles
• .34% Recyclable Beverage Cartons

The Everything Else slice of this pie is broken down accordingly:

• 9.67% Other Organics
• 5.24% Non-Recyclable Paper
• 4.28% Other C & D Debris
• 3.08% Textiles
• 1.20% Untreated Dimension Lumber/Pallets/Crates
• 1.18% Other Plastic Products
• .85% Miscellaneous Inorganics/Household Hazardous Waste
• .51% Electronics/Audio-Visual
• .17% Other Glass

How much of the Street Basket refuse stream consists of materials that are designated for recycling in New York City? The answer is 47.14%. This figure can be broken down into the following categories:

• 30.80% Paper (15.18% Other Recyclable Paper, which in this stream also includes Corrugated/Kraft; plus 15.63% Newspaper)
• 7.25% Glass (the 6.24% Container Glass slice, plus 1.02% Mixed Cullet from the Other Recyclables slice)
• 6.04% Metal (the .51% Aluminum Cans slice; plus .53% Other Aluminum and 4.99% Other Metal Cans and Items, from the Other Recyclables slice)
• 2.71% Recyclable Plastics (the 2.28% PET Bottles slice, plus .43% HDPE Bottles from the Other Recyclables slice)
• .34% Beverage Cartons from the Other Recyclables slice

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