A research firm that specialises in global risk of solid waste generation has shown that Americans produce three times the global average of waste, including plastic and food.
The research also shows that America lags behind other countries when it comes to recycling, only re-using 35 per cent of solid waste.
Germany is the most efficient country, recycling 68 per cent of material.
The world produces more than two billion tonnes of municipal solid waste every year, enough to fill more than 800,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
Only 16 per cent is recycled while 46 per cent is disposed of unsustainably.
In the analysis, China and India make up over 36 per cent of the global population and account for 27 per cent of the waste.
US citizens produce 773 kilograms per head of population, roughly 12 per cent of the global total.
Their output is three times that of their Chinese counterparts and seven times more than people living in Ethiopia.
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