No country has done more to eliminate trash than Germany, and that's why they are desperately looking for some. Reduction and recycling laws have cut waste dramatically, but that leaves government-built incinerators and landfills idle. To remedy this wasteful situation, Germany is importing trash. The city of Dusseldorf tried to order one firm to stop shipping waste to a Belgian cement factory, which paid for it, and send it to a local disposal plant, which charges to take it. The factory got a temporary injunction, and the Belgians have petitioned the European Union to bar "garbage protectionism."

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