Alessandro Volta. (Corbis Corporation)

Solid waste disposal has been an issue since the dawn of humanity. In the earliest times, land filling, or, more simply, land application, was the most likely scenario for disposal, as anything unusable or nonessential for immediate survival was discarded and left by the trail as the hunter-gatherers moved to follow life-sustaining herd migrations. As humans became more "civilized" and established permanent residences and villages and obtained an existence through means of agriculture, trade, etc., the accumulation of wastes increased due to the localized populations and increased permanence of those societies. Waste disposal practices included both landfill and combustion, as anything of fuel value was most likely burned for heat or cooking purposes. In all likelihood, landfill accounted for a minimal fraction of the waste in those early times, until the advent of the industrial revolution opened the way for greater leisure...