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Three key realities have created significant challenges for rural communities in the 1990s with regard to municipal solid waste management (MSWM). One has to do with the new federal regulations regarding landfill design and operation and state-level requirements for panning, collection, and recycling. The second is that rural citizens also are demanding opportunities to engage in recycling and other activities that are viewed as part of the "solution" to the solid waste "crisis," as well as more influence over decisions regarding local disposal facility siting and importation of solid waste from other jurisdictions. The third reality is the existence of substantial economies of scale or size with respect to some components of MSWM systems, particularly the processing and marketing of recyclable materials and the disposal of solid waste.