Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022

The document outlines recycling rates and waste volumes across six material categories. It highlights a significant disparity between materials that can be recycled endlessly, such as glass and aluminum, and plastics, which degrade in quality and have very low actual recycling rates. In the U.S., only 5% to 6% of plastic waste generated in 2021 was recycled. Globally, e-waste is identified as the fastest-growing waste source, and food waste is the largest waste category, contributing approximately 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

• Plastic recycling rates in the U.S. are lower than previously estimated; of the 40 million tons of plastic waste generated in 2021, only 5% to 6% (approximately two million tons) was recycled. Additionally, 85% of the plastic used for packaging ends up in landfills.
• Paper recycling achieved a 68% rate in 2021, with over 50 million tons recovered. Corrugated cardboard saw a higher recycling rate of 91.4% in the same year.
• Aluminum and glass are highly efficient to recycle as they can be processed endlessly without quality degradation. However, in the U.S., only one-third of the 110 million glass bottles thrown away daily are recycled, and 7 million tons of aluminum are not recycled annually.
• Electronic waste is the fastest-growing global waste source, reaching 53.6 million metric tons in 2019 (a 21% increase since 2014), yet only 17.4% of that waste was recycled.
• Food waste is the largest category of waste, with 40% of global food production wasted. This waste is responsible for approximately 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

APA

Wakefield, F. (2022). Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/recycling-global-statistics-facts-plastic-paper/

Chicago

Wakefield, Faith. Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/recycling-global-statistics-facts-plastic-paper/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wakefield |first1=Faith |title=Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022 |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=22 June 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/recycling-global-statistics-facts-plastic-paper/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wakefield2022top, author = {Wakefield, Faith}, title = {{Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/recycling-global-statistics-facts-plastic-paper/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }