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The latest innovation in waste disposal is not in converting it into fuel or electricity, but in how the waste is contained and transported. Currently, steel containers of trash are delivered to landfills via gas guzzling big rigs where sitting waste causes problems such as groundwater pollution. TransLoad America hopes to remedy these problems with a German shrink-wrapping technology.
The technology "compresses tons of garbage into dense cylindrical bales and seals them hermetically in several layers of plastic film," after which TransLoad plans to transport them to landfills through the use of rail lines. This system provides benefits to the environment and reduces cost. Groundwater pollution is prevented by the use of "impermeable plastic" wrap and shipping by rail cuts down on fuel use and emissions. Only 22 tons of waste can be transported through traditional trucks, while a boxcar of bales can hold 100 tons. TransLoad already custom designed and ordered 1,200 rail cars to make the process even more efficient.
With a launch date of early 2008, TransLoad hopes to change the way trash is handled. Aiming even higher, they hope to use future technology to change its landfills into producers of "biofuels, electricity, [and] heat" with its bales as the source.
Via: Wired
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_arc_gasification