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Waste Decomposition Timeline

Decomposition of solid waste
Ever wondering how long it is required for total decomposition of different waste materials?  

The timeline below shows how long it takes for products and materials to break down and return to soil when left exposed to air and sunlight.

Loose-leaf paper (2-4 weeks) ---> Most vegetable peels (2-5 weeks) --->

  Cotton T-shirt (1-5 months) ---> Orange peel (6 months) ---> 

Woolen sock (one year) ---> Woolen sweater (3-5 years) ---> 

Paper plate (5 years) ---> Plastic bag (10-20 years) ---> Painted wood (13 years) ---> 

Plastic film container (20-30 years) ---> Leather shoe (25-40 years) ---> 

Nylon parka (30-40 years) ---> Rubber boot ---> (50-80 years) --->

Steel can (100 years) ---> Aluminum can ( 200-500 years) ---> Plastic cup (250 years) ---> 

Plastic 6-pack holder (450 years) ---> Disposable diaper (500 years) ---> 

G lass bottle ---> (1,000,000 years) ---> Plastic bottle (1,000,000 years) ---> Polystyrene foam cup ( NEVER! )

From Dumpster Rentals Cooperative blog moderators:  We would like to thank Rob Lough, an owner of 1-888-JunkBin , a local Halifax, NS dumpster rental company for his constant contributing to our environment protection and waste reduction effort.

  • Published: 2013-08-31T12:43:11-07:00
  • Author: Laura Schmidt, Dumpster Rentals Customer Supp