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Today, landfills are a fact of life, and Albuquerque's is on the receiving end of about 2,500 pounds of garbage per minute.

But a new plan being floated by Mayor Martin Chavez calls for recycling and other measures to turn our landfill into a useless museum piece by 2030. He insists that the ambitious plan is possible, and the City Council is cautiously cheering him on.

The timeline would work like this: Over the next several years, recycling efforts would increase to a point where about 50 percent of the waste stream would be recycled. Then, some kind of large processing facility - perhaps an electricity generating incinerator - would take care of the rest.

"We're trying to position ourselves to take advantage of the best technology available at the time," said Leonard Garcia, the director of the city's Solid Waste Department.

If the giant leap is to be made, however, it's going to take a long series of baby steps, and that work starts now.

By the end of next year, for instance, the administration wants to implement a pilot program for distributing special containers for recycling yard and kitchen waste. That should, combined with outreach to the business community and making recycling carts available at apartment complexes, boost the percentage of waste recycled from 1.5 percent to 8 percent, Garcia said.

Beyond 2008, formal public education campaigns, expanded curbside collection, centralized composting facilities and other steps would continue to increase the percentage.

City councilors are cautiously cheering the proposal, but the current antagonistic relationship between some of them and the mayor stands as a possible complication as the zero-waste idea proceeds.

Consider the case of curbside recycling containers. The experience of other cities shows that people are more likely to recycle if they have a specific cart in which to do so. In March, Chavez proposed setting aside $2.5 million to buy 40,000 carts, but councilors subsequently whacked the funding, saying the details of the program hadn't been worked out enough.

"There seemed to be some confusion when questions were being asked," Councilor Isaac Benton said. "It's just one more thing where we need better cooperation."

Still, support for making landfills relics of a bygone era has traction on the council.

"I think it's a great goal. I think it is something that is technologically feasible," said Councilor Martin Heinrich. "I hope that the mayor and the administration are serious about the follow-up."

The proposal even wins praise from one of the mayor's sharpest critics, Councilor Don Harris.

"I think it's a great idea," he said. "Protecting the environment is something that crosses party lines."

But the administration still appears to be licking its wounds from the budget fight.

"I think the public is behind it," Garcia said. "I think eventually the council will be behind it as well."

In any event, Garcia is now faced with this challenge: increase recycling in Albuquerque by just under 600 percent by the end of next year, and do it within his normal budget.

His plans are scaled down, to be sure. Instead of 40,000 carts, he reckons he can get 4,000 (at about $60 a pop) and put them out on the street within a few months. And next year, he said, the Solid Waste Department could use special bond funding to quickly pull together a yard waste collection program.

"I feel very confident that we can get to 8 percent," Chavez said.

That the goal is within reach isn't in dispute so far, but councilors are tempering their optimism with caution.

"When this mayor decides he really wants to accomplish something and he's willing to put the full force of his administration behind it . . . he's very good about getting things done," Heinrich said. "I hope it's not just one of those things that makes a great press conference."