nova _robotics, My view is that given the state of modern furnaces it is pretty much a no-brainer to incinerate waste that is contaminated or otherwise non-recyclable. Some of the more advanced furnaces put out cleaner air than what goes into them.
I used to work in the waste industry and the waste,(pun intended), I saw every day was criminal. A lot of good product went to landfill just because there was an oversupply and market prices needed to be kept up.
Waste to Energy is the best solution, better re-cycling would help too but the best solution would be not to produce the waste in the first place and change the mindset of 'I have to have the latest thing'.

Floradawg, Thank you for the recommendations. I have heard of both those books but sadly read neither, I'l try and remedy that as ammo against the greenie eco-terrorists is always useful.