Trashed treasure … Loose change can turn up anywhere – in a couch cushion, in a cup holder inside your car, or at the bottom of the washing machine. But mostly, it ends up in the trash. A waste management company in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, says it has collected $10 million in loose change that was thrown in the trash over the past seven years. If you think that's crazy, Americans actually throw away about $68 million a year in loose change, according to environmental services company Reworld. That's a lot of pennies, nickels and dimes.