66% of recycled waste was paper and paperboard.
Metals accounted for approximately 12%, and only 4–5% of recycled waste was plastic, glass, and wood. Even though there’s a lot of room for improvement, the good news is that there’s a rising trend in recycling rates. Based on the US recycling statistics, in 1960, only about 6% of MSW was recycled, while in 2017, the recycling rate was over 35%. So American recycling efforts are showing some promising results.