Municipal Solid Waste: United States

Report Overview

This report forecasts to 2028 US generated, recovered, and discarded municipal solid waste (MSW) in short tons. MSW generated, recovered, and discarded are each segmented in terms of: packaging, durables, nondurables, food, yard, and miscellaneous inorganics (generated and discarded only).

To illustrate historical trends, total generated, recovered, and discarded MSW as well as the various segments are provided in annual series from 2013 to 2023.

The volume of recovered miscellaneous inorganic waste (e.g., cat box litter) is negligible and excluded from recovered volumes. MSW spans collection from residential, commercial (e.g., retail stores and offices), and institutional (such as schools and hospitals) sources. Construction, hazardous, and industrial waste are excluded from the scope of this report. Throughout this report, measures in tons refer to short tons.

Key macroeconomic indicators are also provided with quantified trends. Other various topics, including profiles of pertinent leading companies, are covered in this report. A full outline of report items by page is available in the Table of Contents.

Related NAICS Codes

Table of Contents

• Historical Trends
• Key Economic Indicators
• Material Recovery Overview
• Discarded Material Management

• Packaging
• Durables
• Nondurables
• Food
• Yard

• Packaging
• Durables
• Nondurables
• Food
• Yard

• Industry Characteristics
• Market Leaders

• Scope
• Sources
• Industry Codes
• Freedonia Methodology
• Resources

• Figure 1 | Key Trends in the US Municipal Solid Waste Market, 2023 - 2028
• Figure 2 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste Trends, 2013 - 2023
• Table 1 | Key Indicators for US Municipal Solid Waste Generation; 2013, 2018, 2023, 2028 (2017US$ bil)
• Figure 3 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (mil tons)
• Table 2 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2023 (000 tons)
• Table 3 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2023 - 2028 (000 tons)
• Figure 4 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste by Type Performance Index, 2013 - 2028 (2013=1.00)
• Figure 5 | US Generated Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (%)
• Figure 6 | US Recovered Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (mil tons)
• Table 4 | US Recovered Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2023 (000 tons)
• Table 5 | US Recovered Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2023 - 2028 (000 tons)
• Figure 7 | US Recovered Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (%)
• Figure 8 | US Discarded Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (mil tons)
• Table 6 | US Discarded Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2023 (000 tons)
• Table 7 | US Discarded Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2023 - 2028 (000 tons)
• Figure 9 | US Discarded Municipal Solid Waste by Type, 2013 - 2028 (%)
• Figure 10 | US Municipal Solid Waste Firms, Establishments, & Employment, 2012 - 2022
• Table 8 | US Municipal Solid Waste Firms, Establishments, & Employment, 2012 - 2022
• Table 9 | Select Participants in the US Municipal Solid Waste Sector
• Table 10 | NAICS & SIC Codes Related to Municipal Solid Waste