While paper and paperboard consumption is currently four percent higher than it was in 1990, the amount of paper winding up in landfills is down 30 percent relative to the volume at the same time.
| Paper Recovered (million tons) | Paper Landfilled (million tons) | |
| 1993 | 35.5 | 38.4 |
| 1994 | 39.7 | 37.9 |
| 1995 | 42.2 | 36.3 |
| 1996 | 43.1 | 34.4 |
| 1997 | 44.0 | 37.3 |
| 1998 | 45.1 | 38.4 |
| 1999 | 46.8 | 41.3 |
| 2000 | 47.3 | 39.9 |
| 2001 | 47.0 | 36.5 |
| 2002 | 47.6 | 37.7 |
| 2003 | 49.3 | 36.5 |
| 2004 | 50.2 | 39.8 |
| 2005 | 51.3 | 37.6 |
| 2006 | 53.3 | 36.7 |
| 2007 | 54.3 | 32.7 |
| 2008 | 51.8 | 28.7 |
| 2009 | 50.0 | 20.8 |