[thackney]

We literally throw potential fuel away.

I suspect in the future, perhaps very far into the future, we will mine long abandoned trash dumps for the resources buried there.

[Red Badger]

We could do that now! The conversion process isn't rocket science. But a lot of those former dumps now have houses on them............

[Uncledave]

>> I suspect in the future, perhaps very far into the future, we will mine long abandoned trash dumps for the resources buried there.

There's folks working on it: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18328/

Here's a firm in CT that's among the leaders in it:
http://www.startech.net/