10 Things Other Countries Recycle But the U.S. Doesn’t

The truth about recycling in the United States

The United States recycles or composts only 35 percent of its waste, sending the rest to landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By contrast, top recycling countries like Germany, Austria, South Korea, and Wales recycle over half of their national waste. “One reason the U.S. falls short is that we’re attempting to recycle materials that are not recyclable” at American recycling plants—also called “wish-cycling,” says Mark Marinozzi, vice president of marketing at World Centric. These are common items that other countries recycle but American facilities dump out, where it will take things like these 12 everyday products centuries to decompose.

Find out the 15 things you didn’t think you could recycle.