Flemish Recycling Runs to Chicken Feed

The Belgian region of Flanders is attracting international attention with novel recycling schemes that include reuse centers, pay-per-bag garbage collection, and omnivorous chickens. The Russians, the Chinese and the British have come calling to see how Flanders has managed to hold its total waste generation steady even as its population and economy have grown, the Guardian reports.

To achieve this "decoupling" of waste from economic growth, the Flemish are incentivized to raise chickens in their suburban yards, feeding them everything from grass clippings to bones. Households pay by the bag to dispose of trash they don't recycle. Some garbage is incinerated, and the energy collected as reusable steam.  “Reuse” stores rebuild appliances and renew neglected components. (More recycling stories.)