Solid Waste and Recycling Reports
SCDES’s Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling is required by the S.C. Solid Waste Policy and Management Act of 1991 to produce annual reports that focus on solid waste management in South Carolina.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of solid waste management including the amount and type of solid waste - municipal solid waste (MSW) and total solid waste (TSW) - that is disposed of and recycled in South Carolina as well as the progress towards meeting the state's waste reduction and recycling goals. For detailed information, see the report below. The latest report covers fiscal year (FY) 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025).
The report is divided into the following sections:
Section 1: Purpose of the report, data sources, and outline of the report.
Section 2: Brief statistical summary of recycling and disposal figures in FY25.
Section 3: Summarizes information about solid waste planning and addresses Demonstration of Need (DON). DON refers to the criteria established for geographical placement and allowable annual disposal rates of new and expanding solid waste management facilities.
Section 4: Overview of permitted solid waste facilities including transfer stations, processing facilities, and composting/wood-grinding facilities.
Section 5: Details on disposal data including remaining capacities for Class 3 landfills and generation rates for MSW, TSW, imported waste, and exported waste data in FY25.
Section 6: Breakdown of the types and amounts of MSW recycled in FY25.
Section 7: Comprehensive county-by-county breakdown of MSW and TSW recycling.
Section 8: Recommendations for improving solid waste management in the state and an FY25 legislative overview.
The full version of the report is available for viewing below.
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY25
*The solid waste annual report has evolved through the years regarding the detail of the data presented, the format in which the data is presented, and the manner in which the data is presented. In an effort to continuously improve the quality of the annual report, starting in the FY 2022 report (published on March 15, 2023), revisions were implemented with the intent to produce a streamlined document and present more clear, meaningful data.
Historically, data collected from processing facilities was reported from the origin of the waste disposed. The FY 2022 annual report designated a new waste stream produced from the processing facilities; therefore, the waste disposed of from the processing facility is designated to the county in which the processing facility is located. This change may affect tonnage reports for some counties.
Every effort is made to ensure data accuracy. If you have specific questions regarding information in the report, please contact Kayte Deal at 803-898-1329 or Kathryn.Deal@des.sc.gov or Sallie Williams at 803-898-1346 or sallie.williams@des.sc.gov.
This study was conducted by MSW Consultants in 2025 and has been supported by a grant from the U.S. EPA's Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grant Program.
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY24
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY23
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY22
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY21
S.C. Solid Waste Management Annual Report for FY20 *Revised Edition
This report summarizes the waste reduction, recycling and buying recycled efforts of South Carolina state agencies as well as state-supported colleges and universities during Fiscal Year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025).
This study was designed to provide a characterization of the solid waste generated throughout one day at six public schools in South Carolina. South Carolina has about 760,000 students and 50,000 teachers in more than 1,200 schools that generate substantial amounts of waste. The vast majority of this waste could be prevented, recycled or composted.