THE US has a big waste problem and, officially at least, recycling is

seen as one of the best solutions. Twenty-five states now have laws mandating

some type of recycling. Eight of these aim to reduce the flow of domestic

waste by between 15 and 30 per cent within a few years. Connecticut, most

ambitious of all, will forbid the incineration or disposal by landfill of

any recyclable item from 1991. ‘Reverse vending’ machines swallow used

cans and bottles and automatically credit the manufacturer with a return.

But one archaeologist thinks that the US may be recycling some of its discarded

materials for the wrong reasons.

William Rathje of the University of Arizona specialises in rubbish tips,

rather than the sites of ancient civilisations. His team of archaeologists,

microbiologists and chemists has so far dug into seven sites across the

US. They apply established archaeological techniques of ‘layered’ excavation

to cut a cross-section into a landfill, then sort the refuse taken from

the cross-section into categories. They can tell how old each layer of refuse

is by its depth in the landfill and from changes in the design of, for example,

Coca-Cola bottles. ‘Sell-by’ dates and newspapers give more accurate information

and are still legible even when they are 40 or 50 years old.

Waste disposal and recycling authorities commissioned the digs to find

out precisely what people in the US throw away and what then happens to

the refuse. ‘Much of the information used to formulate solid waste policies

– what we think is in landfills and what happens to it over time – may be

based more on fantasies than …