Florida’s sustainability picture spans waste, water, energy, habitat management, and volunteer conservation. In 2024, the state reported a 43% municipal solid waste recycling rate, used approximately 958 million gallons of reclaimed water per day, and generated 266,119,236 megawatthours of electricity. The figures below identify the measurement year or period and keep statewide, district-level, and park-level statistics separate.
Contents
- Waste and recycling
- Reclaimed water and reuse
- South Florida water use
- Prescribed fire and habitat restoration
- State electricity capacity and generation
- Energy emissions and renewable power
Waste and recycling
The source titled Florida Municipal Solid Waste Collected 2024 reports 54,519,195 tons of municipal solid waste collected in Florida in 2024 and 23,393,061 tons recycled. Its reported overall recycling rate was 43%. These totals describe the state’s municipal solid waste system for that year; they should not be read as a measure of every waste stream outside the stated system.
Material-level results varied substantially. Construction and demolition debris was the largest listed stream by collected weight at 19,997,489 tons, with 12,078,474 tons recycled and a 60% recycling rate. Yard waste totaled 6,043,696 tons collected and 3,828,810 tons recycled, for a 63% rate. Ferrous metals reached 3,179,176 tons collected and 2,435,344 tons recycled, a 77% rate, while non-ferrous metal reached 622,710 tons collected and 508,577 tons recycled, an 82% rate.
| Material or category | Collected in 2024 | Recycled in 2024 | Reported rate when supplied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction and demolition debris | 19,997,489 tons | 12,078,474 tons | 60% |
| Yard waste | 6,043,696 tons | 3,828,810 tons | 63% |
| Ferrous metals | 3,179,176 tons | 2,435,344 tons | 77% |
| Non-ferrous metal | 622,710 tons | 508,577 tons | 82% |
| Corrugated cardboard | 3,272,169 tons | 1,401,636 tons | — |
| Food waste | 3,736,521 tons | 150,410 tons | — |
Paper and packaging streams were more uneven. Corrugated cardboard accounted for 3,272,169 tons collected and 1,401,636 tons recycled. Other paper accounted for 3,720,750 tons collected and 266,494 tons recycled. Newspapers totaled 627,403 tons collected and 61,138 tons recycled, while office paper totaled 807,159 tons collected and 91,544 tons recycled.
Among containers and plastics, glass accounted for 1,122,902 tons collected and 221,977 tons recycled. Plastic bottles accounted for 744,560 tons collected and 45,334 tons recycled. Other plastics totaled 3,007,682 tons collected and 85,985 tons recycled. Aluminum cans totaled 226,959 tons collected and 23,538 tons recycled; steel cans totaled 407,561 tons collected and 21,058 tons recycled.
Additional 2024 categories included 491,689 tons of white goods collected and 261,047 tons recycled, a 53% rate; 353,113 tons of tires collected and 155,696 tons recycled, a 44% rate; and 1,120,388 tons of textiles collected and 40,126 tons recycled. Miscellaneous materials totaled 5,037,268 tons collected and 1,607,562 tons recycled. Process fuel had 108,311 tons recycled, reported as a 100% category rate.
Reclaimed water and reuse
Florida’s Reuse Activities reports approximately 958 million gallons per day of reclaimed water use in 2024. That corresponded to an average of 33.76 gallons per day per person. The reported reuse avoided the use of more than 154 billion gallons of potable-quality water and added more than 94 billion gallons back to available groundwater supplies during the year.
Florida’s domestic wastewater reuse capacity reached 2,522 million gallons per day in 2024. The same source records an increase from 1,116 million gallons per day in 2000 to 2,522 million gallons per day in 2024. In 2024, reuse capacity represented about 62% of total permitted domestic wastewater treatment capacity.
Public access reuse systems connected reclaimed water to several types of community facilities. They irrigated 591,834 residences, 519 golf courses, 1,049 parks, and 409 schools in 2024. Public access reuse systems represented about 57% of Florida’s 958 million gallons per day of reused water. The statewide reuse figures are reported for 2024 and are distinct from the South Florida Water Management District estimates for 2023 below.
South Florida water use
The SFWMD 2023 Estimated Water Use Report estimated total water use at 2,549 million gallons per day in the South Florida Water Management District in 2023. This is a district estimate, not a statewide total. Public supply accounted for 1,164 million gallons per day, agriculture for 845 million gallons per day, landscape and recreation for 353 million gallons per day, commercial, industrial, and institutional use for 137 million gallons per day, domestic self-supply for 41 million gallons per day, and power generation for 9 million gallons per day.
By source, groundwater supplied 1,693 million gallons per day in the district in 2023, while surface water supplied 856 million gallons per day. Fresh water accounted for 2,325 million gallons per day, saline water for 224 million gallons per day, and reclaimed water for 257 million gallons per day.
The district’s demand profile therefore includes both water-use sectors and source categories. The public-supply figure is the largest listed sector, while agriculture is also a major component. Groundwater is the largest listed source. Because the report is an estimate for 2023 and covers the South Florida Water Management District, these figures should not be combined with statewide 2024 reuse totals as though they were the same geographic or reporting series.
Prescribed fire and habitat restoration
Florida’s conservation statistics include active management of fire-adapted landscapes. Florida State Parks Prescribed Fire FAQs reports that the Florida Park Service manages approximately 290,000 acres of fire-type habitat. Florida State Parks Prescribed Fire Program states that Florida State Parks has used prescribed fire since 1971 to preserve and maintain natural resources. The program’s largest prescribed fire in 2019 burned 10,000 acres at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park.
Park-specific targets show the scale of the work. Dunns Creek State Park has 6,300 acres, most of which are fire dependent, and its annual prescribed fire goal is 700 to 1,900 acres per year. Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park applied prescribed fire to 8,800 acres in a single effort. That burn represented 90% of the park’s annual goal and 10% of the Florida Park Service’s statewide goal, according to Fakahatchee Mega Burn.
Restoration work also extends beyond fire. Longleaf Pine Restoration reports that Torreya State Park has restored over 2,500 acres back to its natural state, restores around 350 acres yearly, and still has 2,400 acres remaining to restore. These are park-level figures and are presented as reported rather than treated as a statewide restoration total.
The Florida Conservation Corps provides another measure of conservation capacity. Celebrating 25 Years with Florida Conservation Corps reports that more than 1,200 AmeriCorps members served in Florida State Parks over the past 25 years and that members served more than 772,000 hours. They treated more than 26,000 acres of non-native plants on 100,000 gross acres, improved more than 3,000 miles of trails, and recruited more than 27,000 volunteers over that period.
State electricity capacity and generation
The Florida Electricity Profile 2024 identifies natural gas as Florida’s primary energy source in 2024. Florida’s net summer capacity was 72,012 megawatts, ranking third nationally. Electric utilities provided 65,925 megawatts of that capacity, ranking first, while independent power producers and combined heat and power facilities accounted for 6,087 megawatts.
Florida’s net generation reached 266,119,236 megawatthours in 2024, ranking second nationally. Electric utilities generated 249,530,741 megawatthours, and independent power producers and combined heat and power facilities generated 16,588,495 megawatthours.
| 2024 electricity measure | Florida value | Reported national rank |
|---|---|---|
| Net summer capacity | 72,012 megawatts | 3rd |
| Electric utility capacity | 65,925 megawatts | 1st |
| Net generation | 266,119,236 megawatthours | 2nd |
| Electric utility generation | 249,530,741 megawatthours | — |
| IPP and CHP generation | 16,588,495 megawatthours | — |
These capacity and generation measures describe different aspects of the electricity system. Capacity is the system’s reported net summer capability, while generation is the electricity produced during 2024. The source identifies natural gas as the primary energy source but does not provide a natural-gas percentage in the supplied figures.
Energy emissions and renewable power
Florida electric power plants emitted 19,758 short tons of sulfur dioxide and 48,637 short tons of nitrogen oxide in 2024, according to the Florida Electricity Profile 2024. They emitted 92,505 thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide. Reported emissions intensity was 0.1 pounds per megawatthour for sulfur dioxide and 0.4 pounds per megawatthour for nitrogen oxide.
The Florida State Energy Profile Data reports 10,786 megawatts of renewable electricity net summer capacity in August 2024. In that same month, utility-scale solar, wind, and geothermal generation totaled 1,735 thousand megawatthours; utility-scale biomass generation totaled 272 thousand megawatthours; and small-scale solar photovoltaic generation totaled 413 thousand megawatthours.
The profile also reports that renewable energy supplied 7.0% of Florida’s state total consumption in 2022. Florida consumed 21,877 thousand barrels of fuel ethanol in 2022, while total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions reached 231.0 million metric tons. For 2023, electric power industry carbon dioxide emissions were 93,735 thousand metric tons and electric power industry sulfur dioxide emissions were 21 thousand metric tons.
The periods differ across these energy measures: generation and power-plant emissions are reported for 2024, renewable capacity and selected generation are reported for August 2024, renewable share and fuel ethanol are reported for 2022, and the electric power industry emissions figures are reported for 2023. Keeping those dates visible is essential when comparing Florida’s sustainability indicators.