[GreenYes] Mining landfills--what, exactly, do we mean by this...

[Alan Muller <amuller@no.address>]

>Most of the people I hear talking about wanting to dig up landfills 
>say they want to put the results through incinerators.  This seems 
>self-evidently absurd to me, given the added dirt and moisture 
>compared to the waste originally dumped, not to mention the loss of 
>fuel value through areobic and anerobic chemistry gone on.  (Of 
>course, we think incineration of MSW in the first place is absurd....)

Taking the example of metals such as copper:  Yes, it may be in 
there.  But are there any credible processes for separating it from 
all the other goodies?

Seems to me the real point is the foolishness of dumping commingled 
wastes in the first place.  If we don't feel we can justify 
separating what we are dumping *before* we dump it, are we likely to 
justify it after we have made the task far more difficult and less 
rewarding....?

(Granted there are examples of economic reprocessing of waste 
dumps--usually from mining where the pile competes with the 
now-lower-grade ore that would otherwise be used.)

Alan

Alan Muller, Executive Director
Green Delaware
Box 69
Port Penn, DE 19731 USA
(302)834-3466
fax (302)836-3005
greendel@no.address
www.greendel.org 


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