A British government agency has claimed that the nation's garbage is an untapped gold mine that's potentially worth over $4.5 billion. The Local Government Association's (LGA) review on Britain's waste disposal, 'Wealth from Waste', says local governments could earn billions by 2020 to provide better services to residents. The study outlines how the scheme could additionally create over 50,000 jobs by expanding the household recycling sector. LGA executive Clyde Loakes said: "There is clearly wealth in waste. The UK's waste and recycling sector is currently worth around £11 billion and growing at twice the rate of the rest of the economy, but there is so much more we could do to make the most of this booming industry."

The UK produces over 26 million tonnes of rubbish every year. The LGA is urging the country to fully exploit a resource that currently ends up in landfills. The report reads: "Taxpayers will be better off, the economy will benefit, and more people will have jobs if we grow our domestic market for collecting, sorting and reprocessing recycling. Landfilling waste costs a lot of money; burning it is still expensive; recycling actually brings in cash for the taxpayer and we owe it to today's hard-pressed taxpayers to get as much of their money back as possible." It adds: "There is wealth in waste. It is time to take the lid off the dustbin debate and raise the sights of government…from the kerbside to the global economic race."