Dive Brief:
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued a report detailing the contents of trash collected in the Duluth, Minnesota community.
- Crews sifted through trash and discovered that 18% of the waste was food, which was surprising as thousands of tons of food are being diverted through composting.
- Businesses and households have almost doubled the volume of trash recycled since 1991; recycling went from 28% in 1991 to 55.7% in 2012.
Dive Insight:
Paper waste decreased to 24.5% of the total waste, while plastics accounted for 16.7% of the waste, up from 13.2% in 1999. Metal waste moved down from 7% to the rate of 3.9% currently. No hazardous waste was found.
