2.6 Trillion Pounds of Garbage: Where Does the World's Trash Go?

More

This year, the world will generate 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage -- the weight of about 7,000 Empire State Buildings. What kind of trash is it? Where does it all go?

The answer is that just under half of it comes from "organic" waste -- food, mostly -- and most of it goes into landfills, according to a new report this week from the World Bank. Here's that story in pie charts, provided by the report.

WHO'S GOT THE MOST WASTE?

The rich, of course. OECD countries make almost half the world's trash. East Asia and the Pacific region (EAP) contributes another fifth. Africa and South Asia produce the least waste.

Screen Shot 2012-06-06 at 8.20.52 PM.png

WHAT'S IN THE GLOBAL GARBAGE CAN?

Mostly food and paper. Organic trash -- food we eat, food animals eat, horticultural waste --  makes up about half of global solid waste, and paper and plastic add another 27%.

Screen Shot 2012-06-06 at 8.20.17 PM.png

WHERE DOES OUR TRASH GO?
[Lower income countries to the left; Higher income to the right]

In both rich and poor countries, the vast majority of our waste goes into landfills where it's (often) covered up. A very small share of waste in the World Bank's data -- which, the authors admit, was difficult to collect for this category -- went to recycled or composted waste. "Africa's collected waste is almost exclusively dumped or sent to landfills," the report said.

Screen Shot 2012-06-06 at 8.18.56 PM.png

And a tweetable stat for the road: The typical person in a developed country produces about 2.6 pounds of garbage a day. That would mean the average American man, weighing 175 pounds, produces his weight in trash every three months.


Jump to comments

Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he oversees business coverage for TheAtlantic.com. More

Thompson has written for Slate, BusinessWeek, and the Daily Beast. He has also appeared as a guest on radio and television networks, including NPR, the BBC, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

More in Business

In Focus

Photos of Tornado Damage in Moore, Oklahoma

Just In