Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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recyclable landfill

separate all garbage back into its constituent elements
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Basically, imagine a centrifuge, furnace and landfill all rolled up into one. The garbage would all be poured into this contraption, which will be the size of a five story building. When enough accumulates, the containment will seal up and the pressure inside will be increased. After somehow making internal temperature high enough to melt the most stable metals found in the garbage, the whole thing would spin at speeds upwards of 100 rpm to layer all the elements of the garbage - gases and such on top, metals (liquified) on the bottom. Then the apparatus would then come to a stop, slowly cool down and separate the layered elements which would then be used as raw materials.

Nuclear waste is not suitable for this process, but something can be worked out. For now, this would answer most garbage disposal problems.

fleasting, Jul 01 2000

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       That certainly sounds energy-efficient...
egnor, Jul 02 2000
  

       Something the size of a five-storey building spinning rapidly with its contents at high pressure and 1000°C, spewing toxic fumes...   

       This would be a great way of selling the landfill solution to the Green lobby.
hippo, Jul 05 2000
  

       YOU MUST HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD my original idea and that's why I'm getting negative votes. You see, this closed centrifuge will not emit any gases or waste at all. It will convert _everything_ inside it into composite elements, including the pollution it creates.
fleasting, Jul 26 2000
  

       Heating stuff up and whirling it around in a centrifuge won't "convert _everything_ inside it into composite elements"... not unless you make it really, really hot. And I mean *really* hot, as in turning everything inside into plasma.   

       In most cases, heat actually encourages things to react with each other and form icky compounds.
egnor, Jul 26 2000
  
      
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