[lmr]

I mean to say that local landfills are the cheapest method of disposal going right now. Waste to energy may be the wave of the future, but that remains to be seen. Incineration is costly (4 to 5 times the cost of landfill) because of the EPA regulations on the burning and emissions coming from these sites, and then the ashes must be disposed of properly too. I will agree that there is no simple solution to trash but I feel that (especially in my local market, Wichita Ks.) industry and not government is the solution. I understand in some areas government has always handled waste removal and disposal, but perhaps they should give private industry a crack at it, we can do better than the government. As a matter of fact, we have made proposals to our local government which will guarantee trash rates for 20 years (with cost-of-living increases only) and include a recycling program, but our city is rejecting it and pushing a "franchising" system which is guaranteed to put companies out of business, and makes no guarantees on level of service and price, especially in the future. With government it is rarely what is best for people, and more about what they can control. Government needs to stay out of the trash business because they have already screwed it up enough.

[Great Dane]

#19........ All I am saying is, if it's worth stealing to make money on, why is it not making money for professional recyclers. ?

By the way, we are great recyclers, only have one garbage bag every 4-5 weeks, we have 4 composters and a green cone.

[Rocksalt]

Here in my neck of the woods,there are private companys who have the garbage trucks dump the trash in their yard,and then a bunch of guys in space suits pull all the stuff worth money like aluminum,cardboard and such out and they sell them.They have been operating for many years.Funny too,they set up this operation right next to the county landfill,and I'm sure the county loses revenue due to this.