Our landfills are close to being filled to capacity in much of the United States. And good luck trying to start a new landfill. Nobody wants to live near a landfill.

In the old days, landfills were called the "town dump." They smelled and had rats and wild dogs. State of the art landfills are as good as they can be -- but lets face it. They still are the local dump, just a little fancier.

So safely extending the life of existing landfills as long as possible makes a lot of sense. The best way to keep a landfill going is by limiting what goes into it. And grass, leaves and yard waste is a great place to start.

Starting a municipal waste compost facility is a great idea. You don't have to convince the municipal officials in Phoenixville Borough Pennsylvania of the wisdom of composting.. They are all smiles.

You see, they just were awarded a $357,000 recycling grant from the state of Pennsylvania for the purpose of creating a yard waste composting facility.

The money will stretch pretty far -- in fact, you can say the money will be recycled. Here is how.

The money will help purchase the trucks and machines needed to actually start a yard waste recycling facility. Once it gets going, the facility itself will save the Borough money every week from now and forever more, by eliminating yard waste from the waste stream that would otherwise be taken to a sanitary landfill or local incinerator. It's the grant that keeps on giving.

It's like they say: give a hungry man a fish, and he will have a meal for a day. Teach him how to go fishing, and he will be able to feed himself for the rest of his life.

Recycling facilities are a great thing. The mulch that results can be use in local gardens. If a lot of mulch is produced, it can even be sold commercially. There is mulch more to this story.

Mulch is great for gardens. It keeps in needed moisture, produces nutrients, and makes gardens look uniform and presentable. It is also biodegradable.

Yard waste operations can produce bad odors if not properly operated. Municipal operators must be trained and learn how and when to turn yard waste, what should be separated and treated separately, how to apply lime, and other techniques essential in curbing odor problems.

But odor problems can be addressed by an efficiently operated system. And once they are addressed, yard waste operations can be perfect neighbors.

Three cheers to Pennsylvania and the Borough of Phoenixville. Every part of this country should follow suit.

If there are no government operated yard composting facilities where you live, why not organize one. Its good for the budget and for the environment.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.