[GreenYes] MSW vs total wastes

[Heidi Swets <heidi@spectrum-industries.com>]

	A few years ago I read something which compared municipal solid waste to
"all the waste generated in the U.S.", including mining and logging
wastes,air pollution, water pollution, manufacturing wastes.  MSW was
described as being just (approx.) 2% of that total waste amount.  The point
of the statement was to point out how relatively minimal the impact of
recycling can be in conserving energy and materials, especially if our
national recycling rate is somewhere around 26,27%.  The greater benefit,
then would come upstream from recycling, at the extraction and
manufacturing stages.
	I wonder if anyone can help me verify the accuracy of this 2% MSW figure.
Is there a waste characterization study which lumps MSW with all these
other waste categories?
			Heidi Swets
			Spectrum Recycling
			Decorah, Iowa

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