Garbage Disposal

I read that there is an estimated 5500 tons (more than 9,000 pieces of space debris measuring 4 inches or larger) of space junk orbiting the earth at this moment, all leftovers from previous space missions. Supposedly not a threat to current manned space shuttle missions or the space station because the junk is in a higher orbit, but the debris could pose a hazard to commercial and research vessels. I wonder who is ultimately responsible for cleaning up this mess? Will NASA become the agency that will take the roll of interstellar garbage man? I doubt it, but then again, it might just be profitable.

Waste management and disposal is a billion dollar industry right now but sometime in the near future we are not going to have any place left to put all the garbage generated by the masses. On Earth that is. So I propose developing giant, inexpensive containers that can be launched into orbit, and then pushed by the space shuttle towards the Sun to be incinerated. This would take care of humankind’s mounting garbage and pollution issues as well as creating a secondary lifecycle for the space shuttle fleet. I bet we could even dispose of nuclear waste and other hazardous materials in this way. Just think, the few space agencies in the world could work together and pretty much monopolize the interstellar garbage industry, and since every country on Earth would be depending on them, everyone would have to get along or else risk wallowing in their own garbage. War would be a thing of the past and there would finally be peace for everyone!

Or maybe not.