New Jersey faces endless solid waste stereotypes. Many in the rest of the U.S. would have you believe that Jersey's main value is as a dumping site for New York, Philadelphia, and shore tourists. But this project, building on a broad base of unexamined archival sources and extensive interviews with key figures in waste management during the past 50 years, reveals a more profound truth: New Jersey towns, counties, courts, and companies have been shaping waste management processes across the U.S. for decades.