I think the mining for minerals and metals will get easier and more economical if there is less plastic, paper and glass to dig up, haul, and sort. And that fossil fuel prices will be less along the way to that time if plastics and paper products don't get to the landfills in the first place.
That's pure ideology. By the time folks get round to mining landfills, the energy content will probably be a plus. Lots of mines produce more than one thing, and it's almost always beneficial. The Sullivan mine, which closed a few years back after a storied career of 70 years, produced lead, zinc, gallium, silver, indium, arsenic, and a bunch of other things. At one point Cominco, which owned the mine, was the biggest producer of electronic-grade GaAs in the world.
(My Dad used to work for Cominco, back in the day.)
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
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