Data are given on the population and tons of solid waste disposed in 35 wastesheds in Oregon in 1998.
Disposal takes place by both landfilling and incineration.
The amount of solid waste disposed each year depends upon the amount generated or produced and the amount recycled or recovered. The production rate is probably strongly correlated with population, whereas the recycling rate depends upon a large number of factors, including the proportion of recyclables in the waste stream, ease of recycling, education programs, etc. Population size is most likely the dominant variable in waste disposal, and the graph supports this assumption, showing a strong positive correlation between population and solid waste disposed in 1998. The relationship between people and waste disposed is linear, with a very high correlation coefficient. The datum for the Portland metropolitan area has been excluded from the graph, to better view the majority of data points.