Every day across the United States, thousands of tons of potentially valuable materials are torched into thin air under the illusion of progress.

We call it “waste-to-energy.”
A model sold to municipalities and private operators as a win-win: get rid of your trash and generate electricity.

Sounds good, right?

But let me be blunt—this approach is killing your profits, hurting national industries, and directly contradicting U.S. trade strategy.

Yes, you read that right.

If you're in the waste business and think your biggest competition is the hauler next door, you're missing the real game.
Your competition is China’s grip on critical raw materials—and you’re helping them win every time you send mixed waste to the incinerator.

Let me explain.

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The Real Cost of Burning Trash

Waste-to-energy is sold as a simple trade: turn garbage into power.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth they don’t advertise:

When you burn waste, you don’t just burn banana peels and paper scraps.
You burn copper. Aluminum. Rare earths. Gold. Silver. Palladium. Platinum. Lithium.
You burn money. Strategic materials. National potential.

Here’s what’s really inside the average ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the U.S.:

• 4 to 10 lbs of aluminum
  
  

• 3 to 7 lbs of copper
  
  

• 15 to 25 lbs of electronics (e-waste)
  
  

• Up to 15% of plastics that could be reprocessed into valuable feedstock
  
  

• Residual metals and alloys used in appliances, tools, packaging, vehicles, and more
  
  

And now let’s talk scale.

Across the U.S., over 80 WTE facilities process more than 29 million tons of waste every year.

That means—every single day—we’re destroying:

• 200+ tons of aluminum
  
  

• 150+ tons of copper
  
  

• Hundreds of tons of recyclable polymers
  
  

• Unmeasurable quantities of rare earth elements from e-waste and appliances
  
  

Most of which could be extracted, sold, and reinjected into local manufacturing sectors.

But instead, they're turned into ash, buried, and forgotten.

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Why This Is a Direct Contradiction to the Tariff Strategy

Let’s connect the dots.

In the past five years, the U.S. has rolled out aggressive tariffs and trade restrictions on materials coming from China, Russia, and other strategic rivals.

Why?

Because we don’t want to be dependent on foreign supply for materials that power our national industries.

And yet, while we fight for geopolitical autonomy with one hand…
we incinerate our own material reserves with the other.

Waste-to-energy doesn’t just fail to support the national economy—it actively undermines it.

The U.S. government is investing billions into:

• Semiconductor plants
  
  

• EV battery factories
  
  

• Defense supply chain restoration
  
  

• Renewable energy infrastructure
  
  

• Construction and transport upgrades
  
  

All of which require:

• Copper for wiring, transformers, motors
  
  

• Aluminum for lightweight structures and vehicle parts
  
  

• Cobalt and lithium for battery cells
  
  

• Rare earth elements for electronics, defense, and energy tech
  
  

• Steel and ferrous alloys for industrial manufacturing
  
  

Where will these materials come from?

If you’re burning them every day in your trucks, landfills, and furnaces—you’re not just missing out on a business opportunity.
You’re helping to maintain the very dependency these tariffs were designed to break.

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What You’re Actually Sitting On

If you run a waste management company, here’s the brutal truth:

You’re likely throwing away more money than you’re making—every single week.

Let’s do a quick mental audit of what’s hiding in your current waste stream:

• Mixed loads of construction debris with copper pipes and aluminum framing
  
  

• Small appliances with motors, wiring, and steel parts
  
  

• Old TVs, laptops, and electronics full of precious metals
  
  

• Plastic packaging that could be compounded and sold
  
  

• Car and bike parts containing alloys and high-demand metals
  
  

And yet, if your primary outlet is landfill or WTE…
you’re watching all of it disappear into flames or rot.

This isn’t about being more efficient.
It’s about waking up to the true potential of the material you already control.

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You Don’t Need a Factory. You Need a System.

Here’s the best part: You don’t need to build a plant, buy expensive machinery, or go crazy with CapEx.

What you need is a material recovery strategy that turns your existing operation into a local supplier of critical materials.

That means:

• Segregating valuable streams before incineration
  
  

• Building partnerships with processors, refiners, and re-manufacturers
  
  

• Pricing waste loads by material value, not weight
  
  

• Educating your team to recognize high-potential fractions
  
  

• Repositioning your business as a supplier, not just a collector
  
  

I’ve built these models. I’ve helped others flip their operations. And I can show you exactly where the opportunity lies in your business.

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What’s the Risk of Doing Nothing?

If you ignore this, here’s what’s coming:

• Your competitors will start recovering materials and selling them—outperforming you without lifting more weight.
  
  

• Legislation will increasingly favor material separation, and WTE operators will find themselves overregulated and underpaid.
  
  

• You’ll lose out on strategic partnerships with industries looking to secure local material suppliers.
  
  

• Worst of all—you’ll stay stuck in the outdated “waste disposal” mindset, while others enter the high-margin resource trade.
  
  

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Final Thoughts from The Waste Management Alchemist

Waste-to-energy might look like a solution. But in reality, it’s an outdated model in direct conflict with where the U.S. economy is heading.

You’re not in the trash business anymore. You’re in the materials game.
And the sooner you play to win, the faster you’ll grow.

There’s no fluff here. No ideology. Just math, metal, and missed margins.

Let me help you find the gold you’ve been burning every day.

To Your Success

Sam Barrili
The Waste Management Alchemist

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