I guess I see some opportunities to some things.
1. Glass.... It would seem to me that glass crushed could easily be used for the aggregate and sand used in concrete and asphalt.
2. Granulating the plastic would make it usable for something. It could be pressed into form for all kinds of applications, melted and injection molded. Even processed to make fuel and lubricants.
3. Anything burnable could be used to burn and create energy. Perhaps the plastic turned to fuel could be used to help with the burning process.
4. Anything metal (or non flammable) would be separated from the flammables during the burning process and collected and separated. Large metal items could be separated ahead of time and recycled.
5. Paper and other biomass could be composted and used for gardening and farming.
I could see the people being charged for collection and processing, and any end user of the resulting separated waste allowed the commodity for free, pay to have it hauled.
I have often thought it wouldn't be long before old dumps and landfills would be mined for the products they contained. The ratio of steel and brass and copper and aluminum and other resources has to be higher density and more refined than the ore pulled from the earth. I just see our trash as a very valuable commodity that if provided for free, would be something industry could use easier and cheaper than the raw resources.
Maybe I am way off base, but it just really seems like an opportunity whose time has not yet been taken advantage of or offered.
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