From the stated order of municipal solid waste categories from largest to smallest, which is the third category?

• A. Paper and Cardboard
• B. Food Waste
• C. Plastics
• D. Glass

Answer: (C)

The question is probing how municipal solid waste is typically broken down by size or volume in many urban waste streams. In most places, the largest share is organic material, mainly food waste. The next largest share comes from paper and cardboard due to packaging, newspapers, and similar products. Plastics usually rank third because of widespread use in packaging and consumer goods, which adds up to a substantial portion, but not as large as the organic or paper fractions. Glass tends to be smaller in the overall mix, partly because it’s heavy and often diverted into separate recycling streams. So, the third category is plastics.