I think you did mis-interpret Thomas’s quote, but the funny thing is that my wife used to work at a place that had 3 master recyclers, and what they consider to be a huge amount of waste, I think of as a small amount. It is always funny how someones frame of reference is important.
Some time back I collected everything my son used in a month and posted the picture here. It really isn’t that much compared to food waste and such.