Title

Wasted: Surprising Facts About All That Stuff You Throw Away

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    Lata Pandya

    Lata Pandya is a former producer for KCET'S SoCal Connected. From local politics to the arts, Lata has covered a wide range of stories with the newsmagazine.

2017-07-24T15:33:19-07:00

Every day millions of Californians throw things away without thinking about where it all ends up. We waded into the numbers to find out where all of our trash goes. Here's what we unearthed. 

 

Pounds of trash generated daily by each person in California

4.5

Number of landfills in Los Angeles County 

24

Number of landfills in California 

128

Tons of trash processed in Southern California landfills per year 

38.8 million
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Percentage of trash in California landfills that could be recycled or composted

70

Percentage of trash recycled in California in 2015

47

Number of cigarette butts found in landfills each month, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Works

900,000

The cost of building the Mesquite Regional Landfill in El Centro, CA the largest unused landfill in the state and the entire waste -by-rail system

$450 million 
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The average yearly salary for a garbage collector in America, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics

$37,690

Last year's salary of the Chief Engineer of the L.A. County Sanitation District, according to Transparent California

$320,264.68

The number of garbage trucks in Los Angeles City

750

The weight of an empty garbage truck in pounds

33,000
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The number of sanitation districts serving L.A. County

24

Tons of trash processed annually at the El Sobrante Landfill in Corona, now the largest landfill in the state

2 million

Percentage of total methane emissions in the US produced by landfills 

18

The number of Local Enforcement Agency programs overseeing landfills throughout California

60
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  • lata2
    About the Author

    Lata Pandya

    Lata Pandya is a former producer for KCET'S SoCal Connected. From local politics to the arts, Lata has covered a wide range of stories with the newsmagazine.

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