The waste market must be set upon a firm and solid basis. Those who have specialized in this field of trading during the past few years, and, as a result, have become acquainted with its possibilities, and the true value of such material as is to be obtained through the devious channels, are in the position to effect such a reform. The price of waste is naturally subsidiary to the fluctuations in the market quotations of the materials whence it is drawn, as well as of those normally employed in the industries to which waste may be applied. The general conditions are decidedly more complex than those prevailing in the handling of straight materials, for the simple reason that then only the one market needs to be watched. Factors of cost also require to be closely followed. In the true economic and scientific exploitation of all waste products the question of cost is vital. It may easily jeopardize such utilization. Naturally a margin of profit must be available from the working-up of the material, not only to ensure its use, but also to safeguard the sources of supply. This margin must be determined, not on the top of the market as is the case at the present moment when conditions are abnormal, but when prices for raw materials are at their minimum. If, then, the exploitation of waste can be conducted in such a way as to compete successfully with ostensible raw materials, recovery must hold its own to become more and more profitable as the market rises. By-products can be exploited only so long as the cost of preparing them for commerce proves profitable. If it should become cheaper to treat raw materials for a similar article then waste reclamation must suffer abandonment, except in those rare instances where every contributory source of supply must be pressed into service. Such conditions rarely obtain on a low market, because the latter is directly attributable to the circumstance that supply is in advance of demand. It is the inversion of this law which forces high prices.