For example, a 2005 report by the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that one ton of aluminum can recycling saves 209 million BTUs, which is equivalent to 36 barrels (5.7 m3) of oil.

When it comes to disposal of the remaining waste, environmentalists favor sending it to trash-to-energy plant rather than a landfill where it can pollute the soil, water, and air through contamination and excess methane production.

Connecticut is host to six of those facilities, in part due to a conscious commitment to reduce the number of landfill developments and find environmentally responsible means to manage the state's waste.

[3] Under the leadership of Governor Thomas J. Meskill, the General Assembly created the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority in 1973 with the passage of Public Act 73-549.

In 2012, CRRA received a CQIA Innovation Prize from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Partnership for its combination of single-stream technology and education that increased recycling rates in the towns it serves.

From the walkway, visitors could watch recycling collection trucks dump their loads and see how glass, plastic bottles, metal, paper and cardboard are sorted, crushed or baled.

The museum featured mostly hands-on activities, such as the "trash-o-saurus" scavenger hunt to find specified items on the dinosaur and a game-show trivia exhibit, where a wrong answer would shower you in recyclables.

With the downturn in economy, and the cancellation of a six town contracts and the lower prices for commodities sold, the CRRA was no longer able to generate enough revenue to fund the museum's costs and it closed in August 2011.