The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 75 percent of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is recyclable, but only about 30 percent is actually recycled.
The reason people don't recycle as much as they could is chalked up to poor recycling habits, lack of education and awareness, and limited collection opportunities. These are the greatest challenges in improving the amount of recovered recyclables. Recyclables like paper.
Each year, recycling centers across the nation have to discard disposable diapers into the landfill that people put in with their recycling. Disposable diapers are not only not recyclable, they shouldn’t be put into the landfill….or on your baby for that matter.
It is estimated that 90-95% of babies in the United States wear disposable diapers for approximately 2-21/2 years. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that about 20 billion disposable diapers are dumped in landfills each year, accounting for more than 3.5 million tons of waste.”
Some more progressive parts of the United States, particularly on the west coast, have laws mandating that they use a certain percentage of recycled materials in the production of new items.
According to wastedive.com and takepart.com, the top superstar recycling cities in the US are:
- San Francisco, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Portland, OR
- San Diego, CA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 75 percent of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is recyclable, but only about 30 percent is actually recycled. 
