Recycling, once a gangly wide-eyed youth, all arms and legs, has grown up and now faces those pesky problems that come with adulthood, like making money. And the big garbage companies that once sneered at recycling, like Consolidated Scavenger, now want to take over. Berkeley reporter Brian Hunter investigates the recycling wars, finds the body of his friend Doug crushed in an aluminum bale, and hunts down the murderer, all while trying to win the heart of Barb, Dougs former lover, now a suspect in his murder.