Go watch that episode of P&T's BS. In a Free Market, someone might pay you for your garbage eventually. Plus if all roads were private, littering would be a property rights violation.
A lot of what P & T say is propoganda.
Their argument that recycling isn't profitable is ignorant. There are plenty of things that are worthwile that aren't profitable.
Their argument that '...there is still plenty of land left to dump trash' is way beside the point, but I am willing to bet that neither Penn nor Teller live next to a dump, nor would they want to. But thats just it, they can afford to live wherever they want. A lot of people have to live where they can afford it. And if the government says that you have to have a garbage dump next door, there is not much you can do about it.
Recycling isn't the answer to the trash problem, and it was never meant to be. It was meant as a stop gap soulution to help reduce the harm of all this disposable shit.
If you look at the recylcing logo it says, Reduce, Resuse, Recycle. It is meant for people to do it in that order. Recuce that amount of waste that you take in. Reuse what you can, and recycle what is left.
People seem to forget that the fist two are the most important.
The real problem isn't Recycling its over packaging and things that are 'disposable'. What would be really good is if people stopped buying this over packaged crap.
No recycling isn't profitable, but it is better than the alternative. I would much my tax money go to a recycling program, than another dump.