Saying there is an ever-shrinking amount of landfill space in Vermont, lawmakers are looking to add recyclable materials, yard waste and food scraps to a list of items banned from solid waste landfills.

House Bill 485 would ban batteries from landfills immediately, recyclable materials including plastic and glass containers, cardboard, paper and other products by July 1, 2015, yard waste by July 1, 2016, and all organic materials by July 1, 2020.

"It´s about squeezing as many resources as possible out of what was previously considered a waste stream," said as spokesman from Casella Waste Systems. "Waste is a dead end. We can no longer afford to have a cemetery mentality about waste. We have to be aggressive about renewing it."