Turning Trash into Energy

LORTON, VA - MAY 14: Trash is prepared to be burned at the COVANTA Fairfax Energy/Resource Recovery Facility on May 14, 2010, in Lorton, VA. Fairfax County is nearly doubling its trash and recycling collection contracts with the District in an attempt to increase production at its lucrative Lorton facility and take advantage of D.C.'s growing trash totals. Fairfax County has seen its trash and recycling totals dip since 2007 and its massive Lorton waste energy facility is processing at least 110,000 tons of trash below its yearly capacity. Meanwhile, the District, which does not have a landfill or incinerator of its own, needs a new place for an additional 75,000 tons of trash and recyclables to go in the next three years. A contract between the two localities was signed May 1. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)