Atlas

Waste streams

Waste is not one thing. Each stream has its own economics, its own recovery route and its own reason for failing, so the research treats them separately.

Municipal solid waste
The mixed household and commercial stream that most municipal systems are built around, and the one most often measured badly.
0 published entries
Plastic
High visibility, high political attention, and a recovery rate that depends more on market price than on policy.
0 published entries
Organic
Usually the largest fraction by weight in warm climates, and the one that makes everything else harder to recover when it is not separated.
0 published entries
Food
Separated out from organics where policy treats it distinctly, as in South Korea and parts of the EU.
0 published entries
Electronic waste
Small volumes, concentrated value and concentrated hazard. Formal collection rates understate what the informal sector handles.
0 published entries
Construction and demolition
The largest stream by mass in most economies, and the least discussed. Where circularity targets bite hardest.
0 published entries
Industrial
Handled under separate rules almost everywhere, which is why it is often missing from national recycling figures.
0 published entries
Textile
Growing quickly, recovered rarely, and heavily dependent on export markets that are themselves closing.
0 published entries
Hazardous
Small by volume, decisive for public health, and the clearest test of whether enforcement actually functions.
0 published entries
Packaging
The stream producer responsibility schemes were built for, and the one where design decisions are most reversible.
0 published entries

Why the counts are zero

The taxonomy is built and every filter works. The entries behind it come from field research, which begins in 2027. Selecting any item will show you what is currently scoped for study.