• Pounds of food waste the average New York City household produces each week: 7.1
• Pounds of food waste the average American household produces each week: 4.1

• Pounds of garbage the average New York City household produces each week: 40
• Pounds of garbage the average American household produces each week: 45
• Pounds of garbage "rich people in high-density neighborhoods" — e.g., Manhattanites — produce each week: 28.4

• Percentage of the city's current waste that can be recycled: 36
• Percentage of the city's waste that could be recycled in 1989: 45

• Tons of recyclables the Department of Sanitation is required to pick up daily, under a 1989 City Council law: 4,250
• Tons of recyclables the Department of Sanitation currently picks up each day: 2,000 to 2,200
• Tons of mixed paper — including junk mail — thrown out each year instead of recycled: 200,000

N.Y. Throws Away Heaps [NYP]