ABSTRACT
Environmental Protection Agency surveys indeed do show landfill capacity declining dramatically over the twenty first century. There were 5,500 operating landfills processing 187 million tons of consumer and industrial solid wastes in 1988. The leading villain in the municipal solid waste saga is the unnatural substance known as plastic. Plastic products shrink Americans landfill capacity by stubbornly refusing to biodegrade. According to some environmentalists, they also threaten the groundwater supplies and the ozone layer. There are four basic ways to reduce or manage municipal solid waste: source reduction, recycling, incineration, and landfilling. For the most part, local officials have responded to the municipal solid waste "crisis" by emphasizing recycling—either drop-off centers or curbside recycling. For instance, in 1988 only three New Jersey towns recycled plastics; 300 cities in that state do so. Some of the state activities in the area of municipal solid waste disposal are similar to local initiatives, but writ large.
