This graph shows the proportion of four different materials that were recycled from 1982 to 2010 in a particular country. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The line graph represents one country’s recycling rates for a range of common household materials over a 28-year period, from 1982 to 2010.

Overall

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, the proportion of recycled paper and cardboard was the highest of the four classes of materials presented. Of interest,

however

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, is the fact that recycling rates for

this

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category started to make a steady decline as of 1994,

while

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the proportion of recycled aluminium cans and glass containers continued to climb steadily over time. In 1982, about 65% of paper and cardboard was recycled. The recycling rate fluctuated slightly over the eight years that followed, hovering around the 65% to 70% mark, but shot up to a peak of 80% in 1994, after which it decreased incrementally falling back to 70% by 2010.

Although

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glass containers were ranked as the second highest recycled material, the rate of which gradually increased from 1990 onwards, it is the uptrend of aluminium processing

that is

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particularly notable. Cans were first recycled in 1986, starting at approximately 5%, but

this

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grew considerably over the course of 24 years, reaching a staggering 45% by 2010.

In contrast

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to the other classes, recycling of plastics (which was only introduced in 1990) has not been as popular, with the processing rate only rising modestly from around 2% to 8% over 20 years.