There is no longer any doubt that landfills are rapidly filling and nearing capacity and that the price of properly disposing of garbage and sewage is on the rise. In some areas, some relief has been brought about by organic waste recycling efforts. In addition, this kind of recycling of organic material can also help reduce the dangers of ground water contamination and can help organic farmers prepare soil that is healthier for growing.

According to researchers, large cities and substantial animal-raising facilities end up wasting tons and tons of natural resources every day, while polluting lakes, rivers and oceans when they allow their organic refuse, manure and sewage to be discarded. Experts say that a much better use of this material is to regard it as what it really is, a form of wealth that is being squandered. This waste of significant natural resources can be tapped into with proper organic recycling efforts.

Instead of spending huge sums of money to handle, treat, transport and store such waste, many people say this money could be better used to set up ways to improve organic waste recycling. This has the potential to transform a major expense for most municipalities into a new source of income while also helping to cleanup the environment.

A recent report that studied the issue noted that landfills are nearing capacity in many countries around the globe and that the organic waste material that is simply allowed to rot ends up releasing methane gasses into the environment and leaching acids into groundwater systems. The report also indicated that there are 13 US states that are expected to be completely out of landfill capacity in ten years or less, which means that recycling options must be seriously considered.

One researcher pointed out that municipalities in all industrialized nations spend massive amounts of taxpayers' money to get rid of valuable organic nutrients. This is a bad habit. He goes on to say that with some careful thought and a changed perspective on recycling composting programs, these cities could readily turn their organic waste into a revenue steam that would benefit the environment and significantly relieve the taxpayers' burden.

The technology and the systems are already available, and are in use in many other areas. In the province of Tanum, Sweden, a low-water consumption composting toilet system has been instituted.

This system uses only one seventh the amount of water that is used in traditional flush toilet systems and also eliminates the maintenance of extensive sewage systems and treatments plants. In addition, this method of recycling waste converts the organic sewage and garbage into viable compost products that are both usable and suitable for selling.

Once organic waste recycling is established in an area, the sewage waste from municipalities and from animal producers goes through a waste treatment process to make the material safe for use in organic gardens and farms. It has also been estimated that the compost produced by this use of organic waste could provide as much as 15 percent of the nutrients for soil treatment that is now being supplied by fertilizers.