A Comprehensive Analysis of Recycling in Major U.S. Cities 
August 2001
Evaluates NYC’s 20 percent recycling rate in the context of the recycling rates of other U.S. cities. The report also details the various measures and calculations that are used by different jurisdictions to calculate their recycling rates.
The files below are PDF (Portable Document Format) documents; you’ll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader 
to display and print them. Due to the size of the file, this report is divided into the following sections:
Introductory pages
• Cover
• Table of contents
• List of tables and figures
• Abbreviations and definitions
• Director's note
History of the program
• Early challenges to “modern” recycling in NYC
• Comparing New York’s recycling rate to other cities
• Explaining remaining differences part 1 | part 2
• Comparisons in context
• Implications for New York City
Appendices
• Endnotes
• Appendix I: Municipal recycling survey part 1 | part 2
• Appendix II: NYC’s recycling law in force at the end of 2001
• Appendices III, IV, and V: NYC diversion rates; Source data; and Data for the City of Portland, Oregon
back to top l back to reports
