In 1997 Americans threw away more than 430 billion pounds of garbage. On top- of that municipal solid waste, U.S. industries in the 1990s dumped more than 2.5 billion pounds of toxic waste per year. The alarming rate at which Americans produced waste was com-pounded by the fear that, as other countries developed, they would follow suit, dramatically increasing the global amount of trash. Finding new ways to decrease and recycle garbage became a major concern. By the end of the decade, eco-industrial parks were being developed around the world, where several companies would share resources, with the waste products of one company serving as raw materials for the production process of another business. In addition, biotechnology was finding new tools to cope with waste. There were microbes that could take toxic substances in contaminated soil or sludge— including organic solvents and industrial oils—and convert them...