IF GARBAGE WERE A NATION, the Fresh Kills landfill just west of New York City would be its capital. This colossal waste heap-the place where Gotham dumped its trash for more than 50 years until it was closed last year-is said to rank with the Great Wall of China and the pyramids of Egypt as among the human-made objects most visible from outer space. Get close on a bad day and the stench of decomposing matter wafts up out of what looks like a giant grassy hill.

Fresh Kills is a dramatic place, but apart from its size, it is not unique. Every day, a phantasmagoric torrent of cast-off riches flows through our homes, offices, and cars to be burned, dumped at sea, or, more often, buried. And despite the celebrated rise of recycling over the past 30 years, our mountains of waste have doubled. In 2001 alone, Americans, who make up 5 percent of the planet's population but consume 25 percent of its resources, threw out 232 million tons of paper, glass, plastic, wood, food, metal, clothing, electronics, and other rubbish-about 4.5 pounds of waste per person a day.

We're supposed to reduce our waste stream thanks to new technologies and industries that recapture resources. But all that rotting stuff tells a different story. Why? Carelessness is not the only answer. In fact, garbage production is crucial to a market economy. American capitalism hinges on our willingness to keep producing trash.

A Brief History of Recycling
We may believe that the increase in recycling is helping the situation, but the truth is not so simple. Many recycling processes are actually inefficient, polluting, and expensive. And aside from metals and glass, most materials, including paper and plastic, can be recycled a limited number of times before they lose their strength and flexibility. Despite the ubiquitous arrow symbol, only 5 percent of plastic waste is currently recycled, and much of that must be fortified with huge amounts of virgin plastic, which produces a lower, nonrecyclable grade of plastic. You may think you're recycling certain durable plastic things like yogurt containers and Tupperware, but the recycling centers almost always send them on to the landfill because it costs too much to reprocess them.