Home › News › Dec 2022

2023’s Best States at Managing Waste

Staff Report

Monday, December 5th, 2022

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — and the trashiest, too.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans throw away up to 63.3 pounds of garbage per week — compared with the 34.3 pounds each person discards in a typical week.

Which states do the finest job of cleaning it all up, responsibly?

With the holiday season in full swing, LawnStarter ranked 2023’s Best States at Managing Waste.

We compared the 50 states based on their waste-reducing policies, infrastructure, waste production, and recycling rates.

Check out the five best (and five worst) states at dealing with their waste below, followed by highlights and lowlights from our report. (See where your state ranks, and find more key insights.)
 
 

Best States at Managing Waste

Rank

State

1

Connecticut

2

California

3

Vermont

4

Oregon

5

New York
   
 

Worst States at Managing Waste

Rank

State

1

Alaska

2

Nevada

3

Montana

4

Arizona

5

Tennessee
   

Highlights and Lowlights:

  • Top of the Waste-Management Heap: The North swept our ranking this year. States in upper latitudes claimed nine of our top 10 spots. Connecticut finished first overall. Minnesota (No. 9) represents the Midwest, while Washington brings honor to the West Coast at No. 10. 

    Each of these states ranked in the top 10 of our “Policies” category — apart from Iowa at No. 14 — and in the top 15 of our “Waste” metrics, showing their policies work. Many of these Northern states also are leading recyclers and trailblazers of the Pay-As-You-Throw program.

  • Down in the Dumps: In contrast with our top 10 states, there’s no clear regional pattern among our worst 10 performers, with Alaska in last place overall. Other states at the bottom include Nevada (No. 49), Kentucky (No. 45), and West Virginia (No. 42). Among the worst five, the West fared slightly worse, making up 80% of the states.

    Each state ranked poorly across all categories, with a couple of exceptions. In the “Waste” category, Kansas ranked 10th, owing to its excellent management of food waste. Meanwhile, Alaska landed at No. 18 in the same category, thanks to its great performance in two out of four factors: tonnage of landfilled waste and RSEI Score.

Our full ranking and analysis are available here: https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-worst-states-waste-management/