ABSTRACT
The siting of solid waste management facilities-sanitary landfills, incinerators, transfer stations, energy from waste plants, and the likepresents municipalities and their planners with an urgent and con founding problem: everyone benefits from these facilities but no one seems to want them nearby. The problem is often characterized as NIMBY, narrow self-interest. Yet “Not in my backyard” can also be heard as “Why us? Why here?”—a cry for fair treatment (Simmons 1985). Accepting this interpretation offers promise for finding waste management sites that are not only technically feasible but also politi-
cally and publicly acceptable and more equitable for those directly affected.
