The following graph shows the annual quantities of toxic chemicals managed by the manufacturing sectors.

From 2005 to 2015:

• Production-related waste managed by the manufacturing sectors decreased through 2009 following the trend of reduced production resulting from the economic recession. Since 2009, quantities of waste managed have increased.
• Quantities of waste released, treated, or used in energy recovery decreased, while the quantity of waste recycled increased by 34%.

From 2014 to 2015:

• Production-related waste managed decreased by 0.6% (132.8 million pounds).
• In 2015, 7% of the sector’s waste was released into the environment, while the rest was managed through treatment, energy recovery, and recycling.

It is important to consider the influence the economy has on production and production-related waste generation. This figure presents the total pounds in production-related waste managed as reported by the manufacturing sectors and the manufacturing sectors’ “value added”.

From 2005 to 2015:

• Production-related waste managed by the manufacturing sectors increased by 7%, while value-added by the manufacturing sectors increased by 8% (represented by the black line as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Value Added by Industry). Value-added is a measure of production that is defined as the contribution of these manufacturing sectors to the national gross domestic product.

Next graphic

This page was published in January 2017 and uses the 2015 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2016.

Top of Page