Until now, incentives for the average consumer to recycle have been mostly "pays good" or "feels good." Increasingly, though, we may be moving toward a different approach: "Make it increasingly expensive not to."

Two of the influences pushing in that direction are the greenhouse-gas alarm and the shrinkage of local government revenue due to the economic downturn. Offering policy viewpoints in both arenas is Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which favors a cap-and-trade program and creating effective technology for carbon capture. Other backers are Rio Tinto Alcan and Chrysler LLC.

The metals-producing sector is divided on cap and trade. Steelmaker Nucor Corp., for example, envisions the consequence as dramatically higher prices for all types of energy and a setback in global competitiveness.

Also on Alcoa's wish list is "pay-as-you-throw"—volume-sensitive fees for trash collection, so less garbage would mean lower payments by a household or business. Faced with such a pocketbook impact, many...