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KNOW YOUR TRASH FACTS

About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 33%. (Environmental Protection Agency)

More than ½ million trees are saved each year by recycling paper in Boulder County. (Eco-Cycle)

By recycling more than 57,000 tons of steel cans, we reduce greenhouse gasses equivalent to taking more than 21,000 cars off the road each year. (WM)

Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%. (Environmental Defense Fund)

If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees—or about 26 million trees per year. (California Department of Conservation)

The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year—or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years. (Steel Recycling Institute)

The total volume of solid waste produced in the U.S. each year is equal to the weight of more than 5,600 Nimitz Class air craft carriers, 247,000 space shuttles, or 2.3 million Boeing 747 jumbo jets. (Beck)

An average kitchen-size bag of trash contains enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for more than 24 hours. (Covanta)

The solid waste industry currently produces more than half of America's renewable energy, more than combined energy outputs of the solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and wind power industries. (U.S. DOE, Energy Information Administration)

Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. (Trash to Cash)

Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. (Eco-Cycle)

Glass can be recycled an indefinite number of times and never wears out. (National Recycling Coalition)

Making glass from recycled material cuts related water pollution by 50%. (National Recycling Coalition)

If we put all of the solid waste collected in the U.S. in a line of average garbage trucks, that line of trucks could cross the country, extending from New York City to Los Angeles, more than 100 times. (Beck)

Five PET bottles (plastic soda bottles) yield enough fiber for one extra large T-shirt, one square food of carpet or enough fiber fill to fill one ski jacket. (National Recycling Coalition)

The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans in a lifetime. (National Recycling Coalition)

Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12-foot-high wall of paper from New York to Seattle. (National Recycling Coalition)

The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. (National Recycling Coalition)

Once an aluminum can is recycled, it's back on the grocery shelf as another aluminum can in 60 days. (www.aluminum.org)

Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet. (www.aluminum.org)

Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can's volume of gasoline. (www.aluminum.org)

Enough aluminum cans were recycled last year to fill a hollow Empire State Building 24 times. (www.aluminum.org)

The 62.6 billion cans recycled last year alone would make 171 circles around the earth at its equator. (www.aluminum.org)

Some 119,482 cans are recycled every minute nationwide. (www.aluminum.org)

Over the past 10 years, the number of aluminum cans recycled has doubled. (www.aluminum.org)

More than one million tons of aluminum containers and packaging are thrown away each year. (www.aluminum.org)

Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of 2,350 gallons of gasoline. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by the average home over a period of 10 years. (www.aluminum.org)

By using recycled aluminum instead of virgin ore, aluminum manufactures save enough energy needed to supply electricity to a city the size of Pittsburgh for about six years. (www.aluminum.org)

In 2006, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 357 pounds for each man, woman, and child in the United States. (http://earth911.org)

Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. (http://earth911.org)

By 2012, the paper industry’s goal is to recover 55 percent of all the paper Americans consume for recycling, which is approximately 55 million tons of paper. (http://earth911.org)

More than 37 percent of the fiber used to make new paper products in the United States comes from recycled sources. (http://earth911.org)

86 percent (approximately 254 million) of Americans have access to curbside or drop-off paper recycling programs. (http://earth911.org)

Every month, we throw out enough recyclable glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. (www.recycling-revolution.com)

The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials. (www.recycling-revolution.com)

Every year, Americans throw away enough office and writing paper to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

Recycling one ton of paper saves one acre of trees. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

If all the glass bottles and jars collected through recycling in the U.S. in one year were laid end-to-end, they would reach the Moon and half way back to the Earth. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

The volume of glass recycled by Americans in one year would fill New Jersey's Giants Stadium more than three times. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

Glass can be recycled an infinite number of times. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

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Other Important Solid Waste Cases

NSWMA v. Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Mgmt. Dist. (Ohio 2009) (Ohio Supreme Court reversed appeals court decision that Ohio EPA was necessary party in challenge to waste district’s landfill rules).

City of Los Angeles v. County of Kern, No. 07-56564 (9th Cir. 2009) (ruling plaintiffs did not have prudential standing to challenge, on dormant Commerce Clause grounds, Kern County’s prohibition on the disposal of sludge originating outside the county, including outside California).

National Parks & Conservation Assoc. v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., No. 05-56814 (9th Cir. 2009) (upholding district court decision blocking a proposed landfill in southern California near Joshua Tree National Park).

Trans Rail America Inc. v. Enyeart (Ohio 2009) (Ohio Supreme Court ruled state agency can order local agency to review pending landfill application).

Town of New Hartford v. CRRA (Conn. 2009) (Connecticut Supreme Court affirms $36 million award to towns because state solid waste agency was unduly enriched by Enron-related settlement and refused to reduce tip fees at state disposal facilities).

Missouri v. St. Louis Cty., No. ED-91677 (MO. App. 2008) (Missouri appeals court ruled county does not have authority to ignore two year notice requirement before implementing a solid waste collection franchise).

Ventenbergs v. City of Seattle, No. 76954-1 (Wash. 2008) (Washington Supreme Court ruled Seattle laws authorizing selection of waste collectors does not violate state law or the U.S. Constitution).

Douglas Disposal, Inc. v. Wee Haul LLC, No. 44862 (Nev. 2007) (Nevada Supreme Court ruled a county exclusive franchise for construction and demolition waste is within county's Police Power and does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause).

New York Susquehanna & Western Ry. Corp. v. Jackson, 500 F.3d 238 (3d Cir. 2007) (vacating district court decision that New Jersey's regulations governing rail transloading facilites are preempted by federal law).

New England Transrail, LLC., STB Finance Docket No. 34797 (July 10, 2007) (ruling certain activities at proposed Massachusetts transloading facility are subject to federal preemption, but shredding and use of conveyor belts are not).

Harper v. Public Service Commission of West Virginia, No. 03-00516 (S.D. W. Va. April 11, 2006) (federal district court ruled West Virginia's certification requirement for haulers violates the Commerce Clause under the Pike balancing test; the state law does not provide any local benefits).

Fulton County v. City of Atlanta, No. 06-A-0049 (Ga. 2006) (Georgia Supreme Court ruled a state law prohibiting the movement of waste across state or county lines unless prior approval is received by the originating and destination counties for such waste violates the Commerce Clause).

National Solid Wastes Management Association - Petition for Declaratory Order, STB Finance Docket No. 34776 (March 10, 2006) (dismissing petition asking federal rail board to start proceeding involving transloading facility in New Jersey because site had closed making issue moot).

Berks County v. Department of Environmental Protection, No. 870 (Commonwealth Ct. Feb. 28, 2006) (state court upheld state agency's harms-benefit analysis for proposed expansion of Pioneer Crossing landfill, affirming most of the "benefits" that permit applicants typically set forth in their harms-benefits analysis).

Grassroots Recycling Network, Inc. v. EPA, No. 04-1196 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 18, 2005) (Dismissing challenge to EPA's RDD rules governing landfills on standing grounds; NSWMA filed an amicus brief in the case).

Eagle Environmental II v. Pennsylvania, J-89A-2004 (Pa. Oct. 27, 2005) (Pennsylvania Supreme Court, by narrow 4-3 margin, upholds state "harms-benefits test for landfill permit applications).

John C. Holland Enterprises, Inc. v. SPSA, No. 05-186 (Oct. 7, 2005) (Suffolk County court in Virginia ruled a regional solid waste agency is not liable for damages due to sovereign immunity).

Colonias Development Council v. Rhino Environmental Services, Inc. (N.M. July 18, 2005) (New Mexico Supreme Court ruled the state Environment Department did not consider testimony about the proposed landfill's adverse impact on the local community's quality of life and remanded permit application to the Department).

Allocco Recycling, Ltd. v. Doherty, No. 03-3571 (S.D.N.Y. July 15, 2005) (New York City's moratorium on transfer station expansions and new transfer stations, predicated on local need, may violate Commerce Clause).

Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Assoc. v. County of Northumberland, No. 02-01629 (Lycoming Cty., Feb. 7, 2005) (Pennsylvania court ruled that a Lycomoing County administrative fee of $2.00-3.00 per ton for solid waste disposed at Lycoming County's landfill violates state law).

James River Assoc. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, No. CH03-1514 (Cir. Ct. of City of Richmond, Feb. 4, 2005) (Virginia state court ruled state regulation imposing 24-inch standing water test for testing whether barge containers used to ship solid waste is not consistent with state law requirement that such containers be leakproof. Decision also upheld state's $1.00 per ton fee for barged waste).

Harper v. Public Service Commission of West Virginia, 396 F.3d 348 (4th Cir. Jan 24, 2005) (Appeals court ruled a district court erred by abstaining in hauler's challenge to West Virginia's certificate regulations).

Public Citizen v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, No. 03-1165 (D.C. Cir. July 16, 2004) (appeals court ruled federal Hours of Service rules issued in April 2003 were arbitrary and capricious).

New Hampshire v. Goss, No. 2002-445 (N.H. Sept. 29, 2003) (court ruled resident had expectation of privacy in his trash under the NH Constitution, notwithstanding the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to the contary in California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988)).

Philadelphian Owners Assoc. v. City of Philadelphia (3rd Cir. Feb. 4, 2003) (appeals court upheld Philadelphia law that states Philly is not obligated to collect solid waste from buildings with more than six units, rejecting an Equal Protection Clause challenge).

A.G.G. Enterprises, Inc. v. Washington County, 281 F.3d 1324 (9th Cir. 2002) (The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a controversial district court ruling that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preempts certain local solid waste and recycling ordinances because they involve "property." The appeals court ruled the FAAAA does not prempt local regulation of the collection of mixed solid waste).

Waste Connections of Kansas, Inc. v. City of Bel Aire (No. 02-1035) (D. Kan. March 4, 2002) (denying haulers' motion for preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin Bel Aire from entering into exclusive contract for curbside collection of recyclable. The court found Bel Aire is acting as a market participant and that the local law does not substantially impair the haulers' existing contract rights).

NSWMA v. Bazzell (W.D. Wisc. Jan. 14, 2002) (dismissing industry challenge to Wisconsin's $3.00 per ton recycling surcharge. The court ruled the surcharge is a "tax" under the Federal Tax Injunction Act and therefore federal courts do not have jurisdiction over NSWMA's Commerce Clause challenge).