Zero Waste Calculator — Diversion Rate
Calculate your household waste diversion rate from landfill.
Enter weekly waste by category and see how much is recycled, composted, or landfilled with CO2 savings.
Waste diversion rate is the percentage of solid waste that is diverted away from landfill through recycling, composting, or reuse:
Diversion rate = (recycled + composted + reused) / total waste x 100%
The zero waste movement targets a 90% diversion rate. San Francisco, which has one of the best municipal programs in the US, achieves around 80%. Most US cities average 32-35%.
Landfilling organic waste is particularly wasteful: food and yard waste decomposes anaerobically in landfills, producing methane (a potent greenhouse gas). Composting the same material produces carbon dioxide and soil amendments instead, cutting the climate impact by roughly 80%.
Approximate CO2 savings by diversion method (kg CO2e saved per kg of waste):
- Recycling aluminum: 9.5 kg (vs. virgin smelting)
- Recycling cardboard/paper: 0.7 kg
- Recycling plastic: 1.5 kg
- Composting food waste: 0.5 kg (vs. landfill methane)
- Recycling glass: 0.3 kg
The economics also favor diversion: landfill tipping fees in the US range from $30-150 per tonne, while recycling processors pay for clean streams of aluminum, cardboard, and metals. The main challenge is contamination – a single greasy pizza box can ruin a load of paper recycling.
Most municipal programs accept: cardboard, paper, metals, glass, and plastics 1 and 2. Soft plastics (bags, wrap), food-contaminated items, and styrofoam typically go to landfill unless specialized programs exist.