What's In Wisconsin's Landfills?

ANDI SEDLACEK

Andi Sedlacek is a public information officer in the DNR's Office of Communications.

HERE’S WHAT THE DNR’S 2020-2021 LANDFILL STUDY FOUND IN 398 SOLID WASTE SAMPLES FROM 14 LANDFILLS ACROSS WISCONSIN.

2% Glass

3% Problem Materials

4.6% Metal

6.8% Construction & Demolition Debris

6.9% End Of Sample Fines

7.7% Other

17.1% Plastic

21.3% Paper

30.4% Organics

NOTE: Problem materials include appliances, batteries and sharps; end of sample fines are fine materials such as other paper, plastics, glass and dirt; plastic includes plastic bottles, plastic wrap and other flexible films; paper includes cardboard, compostable paper and office paper; organics include wasted food, food scraps and yard waste.

SHARP ISSUES

Improperly disposed of sharps such as needles and lancets were found in 20.9% of samples — about one in every five.

WHAT FOOD WASTE LOOKS LIKE

COMPOSTABLE

Old fruits and veggies

Banana peels

Coffee filters and grounds

Spilled or spoiled plain grains

Egg shells

Vegetable stalks and trimmings

NONCOMPOSTABLE

Leftovers containing oils, dairy or meat

Cheese and other dairy

Meat and bones

Oily foods

Eggs

Fish

TOP 5 WASTE COMPONENTS STATEWIDE

14.5% Wasted food

7.2% Other flexible films*

6% Food scraps

5.5% Textiles

5.3% Compostable paper

NOTE: The combined percentage of wasted food and food scraps (20.5%) found in the 2020-2021 landfill study is roughly double the percentage found in 2009 (10.5%) and 2002 (10.2%).

*Includes items such as candy wrappers and chip bags.