Profits from operating landfills under Big Waste control typically are 60%-70%, but recycling yields at best only marginal returns and can lose money as well.
The national recycling rate has been 35% for the past half decade and shows no signs of picking up steam again. While some cities and towns have reached 50%, 60%, and even 70% recycling rates, most major U.S. But growth slowed and eventually stagnated by the 2000s. Recycling, seen as an escape valve from the grip of Big Waste, grew rapidly from the 1970s to 1990s. Recycling was the enemy of profits and influence because it diverted materials that should go to landfills. When the grassroots-recycling phenomenon that swept the nation in the last generation made recycling and economic growth the focus of “materials” management, Big Waste correctly saw this as an existential threat to their market control and political influence. Big Waste companies own or control 75% of the permitted landfill capacity in major metropolitan areas, and control an estimated 50% of the national hauling market, with increased levels of domination in regional markets. The top four consolidated companies earn $30 billion of the $70 billion economic sector. Big Waste dominates every aspect of solid waste and recycling practice and policy.
