Your landfill is probably subsidized, yes. The price is artificially low because if it's too high, people (as a whole) don't say "oh I'll generate less waste/re

Your landfill is probably subsidized, yes. The price is artificially low because if it's too high, people (as a whole) don't say "oh I'll generate less waste/recycle and compost more", they say "I'll burn it in my backyard/dump it on the side of the road". Yes that's illegal and all, but if it becomes an attractive option, then you need to pay for more enforcement, and it's easier to just subsidize the landfill to make that more attractive in the first place.