Preserving the landfill is quite different from other types of challenges that Michael OConnell dealt with during his many years as a businessman in the private sector. Typically, falling revenues are a bad thing in business while rising revenues are a good thing.
But in the business of landfill preservation, revenue from fees falls off when conservation efforts succeed and people throw out less trash. That has been the trend in Rhode Island, where the state's Central Landfill lis expected to reach capacity in 2038.
It appears that if Rhode Islanders want to keep the trend going, and extend the life of the landfill, they face the prospect of paying more money to throw out smaller amounts of trash.
But OConnell, executive director of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, objects to this summation of the situation.