The graphic presented in this article represents the history of U.S. recycling from the late 1960s to early 2000s when dual-stream recycling, under the control of local governments and informed by organized citizens and small businesses, took the nation from virtually 0% post-consumer recycling to the 35% recycling level. Subsequently, cities switched to single-stream recycling.
In town, recycling facilities and their jobs were shut down and cities had to send low-value mixed materials to distant inefficient processing facilities at great public cost. These facilities could not recover glass, 20-25% of the recycle stream for industrial use. Materials managed got low prices in the marketplace because of contamination.
