The U.S. has improved its recycling rates each year since 1996, but we still have a long way to go.  So when it comes to being eco-conscious, how do we stack up to the rest of the world?

Well, it depends on what report you read (or believe).  The EPA only gathers statistics every few years, so actual numbers may vary by interpretation.  Some groups give the U.S. high ratings, while others don’t.

According to Aneki.com, a website that specializes in crunching stats and listing results on subjects from a to z, there are seven countries taht get high marks for their recycling efforts.


Country        Percentage of Waste Recycled       

1    Switzerland 52%
2    Austria 49.7%
3    Germany 48%
4    Netherlands 46%
5    Norway 40%
6    Sweden 34%
7    United States 31.5%




Another study, called the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and completed at Yale University, Ranks the U.S. much lower than the Aneki.com numbers do. 

The EPI rates countries by assigning numeric values for different aspects of environmental policies.  Each of 163 countries was graded on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being the highest score).  The EPI ranks many European and South American countries higher that the U.S.

2010 EPI Top 10 Countries With Scores (Out of a possible 100)

1.    Switzerland, 95.5
2.    Sweden, 93.1
3.    Norway, 93.1
4.    Finland, 91.4
5.    Costa Rica, 90.5
6.    Austria, 89.4
7.    New Zealand, 88.9
8.    Latvia, 88.8
9.    Colombia, 88.3
10.   France, 87.8

The EPI takes into account not just recycling, but other factors like purity of drinking water, carbon emissions and disease rates.  Still, I find it hard to believe that the U.S. ranks 39th on the EPI list.

And yet another group, Globescan, an international polling organization, ranks the U.S. last in its Greendex Environmental List.

The 2009 Globescan Greendex survey asked 1000 people in each of 14 nations to rate multiple factors including recycling, transportation, water and energy efficiency and housing, to rate how personal behaviors hurt or help the environment. 

The 2009 Greendex Scores (Out of a possible 100)

1.    Brazil, 60
2.    India, 60
3.    China, 56.1
4.    Mexico, 54.3
5.    Hungary, 53.2
6.    Russia, 52.4
7.    Great Britain, 50.2
8.    Germany, 50.2
9.    Australia, 50.2
10.   Spain, 50.0
11.   Japan, 49.1
12.   France, 48.7
13.   Canada, 48.5
14.   United States, 44.9  

I still have to say, I find it hard to believe that the U.S. is ranked behind -- far behind -- China or Great Britain in our environmental efforts.  (By published UK governmental reports, only 17.7% of England recycles.)

So, it’s hard to know for sure how we stand in the world, environmentally, that is.  But here are a few stats from our own EPA, that might make you feel a little better about what we’re doing here in the U.S. to make sure the world is a healthy place.

•The United States recycles 50 percent of all paper products (that’s 42 million tons each year.)

•40 percent of all container and packaging used in the U.S. is recycled.

•62 percent of all yard waste is composted.

•Between 1999 and 2005. the U.S. decreased the amount of garbage going into landfills by 9 million tons each year, and that number is expected to keep going up as awareness of conservation and recycling programs continues to increase.

So we may not be ranked the #1 eco-friendly country in the world, yet. But I think it’s important to keep trying.