"In the 1980s, the mafia controlled garbage in New York. So when an Alabama businessman named Lowell Harrelson wanted to turn trash into energy, he found a mob boss. Bought 3,186 tons of garbage, put it on a big ship, and set sail to find a landfill to work with.

After a 6,000 mile journey, The Garbage Barge, as it came to be known, resulted in an epic mess.

But it was also the birth of residential recycling in the U.S. as we know it."

Sarah Gonzalez reports for NPR/Planet Money July 10, 2019. [2]

SEE ALSO:

Part Two: "So, Should We Recycle?" (NPR) [3]