Americans generate hundreds of millions of tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) each year, with roughly half of it sent to landfills.
Comprehensive national data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, covering 2018, show total MSW generation of 292.4 million tons, or about 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of that amount, 146.2 million tons were landfilled. (Note: 2018 remains the latest full EPA national overview.)
Food waste and plastics rank as the leading materials filling U.S. landfills. In 2018, food accounted for approximately 24% of landfilled MSW, while plastics accounted for more than 18%. Paper and paperboard contributed about 12%, and rubber, leather, and textiles contributed over 11 %.
More recent sector-specific data indicate the scale continues. EPA estimates for 2019 put wasted food generation in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors at 66 million tons, with about 60% — roughly 39.6 million tons — sent to landfills. An additional 40 million tons came from food and beverage manufacturing and processing.
Top Contributors to Landfill Volume
Food waste remains the single largest component by weight in U.S. landfills. Estimates place annual U.S. food waste at nearly 60 million tons, or about 325 pounds per person, representing roughly 40% of the food supply, reported RTS. This material decomposes rapidly, driving methane emissions.
Plastics follow closely. In 2018, the U.S. generated 35.7 million tons of plastic products, with 27 million tons landfilled. Recycling rates for plastics in MSW have remained low, around 9% in EPA figures, and independent analyses report post-consumer rates as low as 5-6% in recent years. Packaging and single-use items form a major share.
Single-use coffee pods illustrate the challenge of small-format plastics. Global estimates indicate tens of billions of pods are discarded annually, with figures ranging from 40–56 billion in various reports, per HALO. Many consist of mixed plastic and aluminum layers that are difficult to recycle, with recovery rates often ranging from 10 to 30 percent depending on the brand and program, noted Earth Org. These items can take centuries — up to 500 years — to break down in landfills, reported the Independent.
These figures tell of a story still being narrated today, with more than just coffee cups being filled.
Coffee pods generate 56 billion units of single-use plastic waste globally every year.
Stacked end-to-end, that's enough to wrap the planet about 50 times. The aluminum and plastic pods take roughly 500 years to break down. Less than 10% are actually recycled despite… pic.twitter.com/UMUTctqT8d
— Give A Shit About Nature (@giveashitnature) May 27, 2026
Paper and paperboard, yard trimmings, wood, textiles, and construction-related debris also contribute significant volumes, though comprehensive national updates beyond 2018 remain limited, per Statista. The U.S. had an estimated 1,274 active municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in 2021 (most current data available).
Rising Waste Volumes and Newer Context
Despite a relatively stable landfilling percentage in EPA data, absolute volumes sent to landfills have continued to rise due to U.S. population growth and increasing per-capita consumption.
Newer estimates from ReFED show the U.S. generated approximately 73.9 million tons of surplus food in 2023 (released in 2025) — equivalent to 31% of the food supply — providing updated context on the scale of food-related waste beyond the core 2018-2019 figures.
Landfills accounted for 119.5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent in the waste sector’s emissions in 2023, primarily from methane generated by the decomposition of organic matter.
What Individuals Can Do
Households can reduce their contributions to landfills by composting food scraps and yard waste where programs exist, using reusable items instead of single-use plastics and pods, and following local recycling guidelines to avoid contamination.
Source reduction — buying less packaged goods and planning meals to cut food waste — directly lowers the volume generated.
Impacts if Trends Continue
Methane emissions from landfills would persist as a contributor to greenhouse gases, and long-term management of leachate and closed sites would remain necessary. Methane, which has approximately 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, is the primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, per the EPA.
Continued emissions would add to national climate totals, with landfills ranking as the third-largest source of human-caused methane in the U.S., per EPA.
Short-term effects for Americans could include higher local air pollution near landfill sites, contributing to respiratory issues, while rising tipping fees — already averaging more than $62 per ton in 2024 — could increase household garbage collection costs in some communities.
Over the long term, leachate from decomposing waste poses risks to groundwater and soil if liner systems degrade, potentially leading to costly remediation, drinking water treatment expenses, and ongoing post-closure monitoring for hundreds of closed or capped landfills nationwide.
