The Trash Receptacle

The city of Abilene, Tex., along with Tye, a small town nearby, will be sending their trash to Dyess Air Force Base, where base officials expect to turn it and the base’s own trash into electricity. According to Associated Press news service, the base plans to absorb about 42,000 tons of trash—some 4,000 dump trucks worth—annually in a new plant that will convert the trash into a gas to run turbines that will generate power for the base. Officials told AP that it would take about 18 months to construct the plant, which they expect to serve as a prototype for other military installations.