Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products. Paper is the most prevalent material in municipal solid waste (MSW) — more commonly known as trash or garbage — and as a result, paper recycling can help us reduce the amount of MSW. In 2008, paper and paperboard products accounted for about 77 million tons (or 31%) of all materials in the municipal waste stream. In that same year, we recycled more than half (56% or 45 million tons) of all the paper that Americans used.