Prospect of rubbish mining in dumps

[Sweetpea]

The value of second-hand plastic has risen so rapidly that mining operations to dig it out of rubbish dumps are forecast to begin within the decade.
Waste suitable for recycling is already being dug out of landfill sites in the United States and it is thought that commodity prices are on the verge of making it a profitable option in Britain.
Rubbish dumps are regarded by the recycling industry as an untapped source of riches, with an estimated 200 million tonnes of plastic buried as landfill since the late 1980s. At today's prices of £200 a tonne the discarded plastic has a value of about £40 billion. Alongside it are smaller, but still sigificant, quantities of valuable metals, including copper and aluminium.

High price of plastics raises prospect of rubbish mining in dumps - Times Online


I have the vision of small children combiing the rubbish to find enough to feed the family.

[Churchill]

They do this in West Africa, were catching up with them developmentally speaking.

[Sweetpea]

Ahh! You caught my drift!!

[Bruv]

Landfill was always a stupid short sighted option.
I have mentioned before, I believe it possible to sort 'rubbish' from a central point, without sorting at home, it just needs the economic incentive and some investment to do so.