[GreenYes] solid waste debacles

[Amy Perlmutter <amyp@chelseacenter.org>]

Hi folks. I have a friend who is getting involved with one of those magic
put garbage in and get gold out technologies.  I shared with him my
skepticism on these kinds of things, but he's pretty excited about this one
and is going to continue pursuing it.  He asked me if there are any
examples anywhere of large scale plants that have promised to take garbage
and turn it into high value materials going belly up. I figured someone out
there would know and perhaps even be collecting such examples. He's also
interested in how they were financed-- public vs. private dollars.  Can
anyone give me a hand on this? I know there are some good examples out
there. It doesn't just have to be mixed waste, it can be any recycling
technology that promised the world and came up wtih nothing.  

thanks.


Amy Perlmutter
Executive Director
Chelsea Center for Recycling and
Economic Development
University of Massachusetts
180 Second Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
617-887-2300/fax 617-887-0399
visit our web site at www.chelseacenter.org