"He's figured a way to turn trash into cash, " said retail analyst Britt Beemer of America's Research Group.

FORBES: Magazine Article

As we write in our magazine profile of the company, Chief David Steiner is investing in a handful of far-out technologies he hopes will be able to turn trash into more valuable commodities like liquid fuels.

FORBES: How To Burn Trash For Power

Within the last year he has made four investments in startups and joint ventures that are experimenting with techniques like incinerating trash with a plasma, speed-composting organic waste and using heat and chemicals to turn trash into ethanol.

FORBES: Technology

Someone always bids, and we turn our trash into a few flecks of gold.

FORBES: Zero Dollar Fix

So the company has teamed up with a small venture-backed company that has developed a system that can break down some of that trash fast and turn it into natural gas, electricity, compost or all of the above, making some of that trash even more valuable.

FORBES: Waste Management's New Way of Managing Waste: Speed Composting

That company creates ethanol from landfill trash that, in turn, reduces methane emissions that contribute to global warming.

FORBES: Can Ethanol Cut Foreign Oil Imports?