If you saw the movie Sex, Lies, and Videotape, you may remember the character played by Andie McDowell and her concern about “the garbage” … and where it all is going to go. How will it be handled? How will it be disposed?

(The actual quote, per IMDB.com, is: “Garbage. All I’ve been thinking about all week is garbage. I mean, I just can’t stop thinking about it.”)

As I crush another aluminum can and throw it in the trash, here in Abu Dhabi, or dump 50 pounds of newspaper down the trash chute in the building … I find myself recalling the McDowell character and her concern. Especially when I know the aluminum cans, in particular, are worth money and easily recyclable — and that is done all the time back in California.

We have been through abortive attempts to begin recycling here. For a time, the authorities put out recycle bins, which was a start, but not a finish.

Far as we can tell, things we winnowed from trash — aluminum, glass, paper — ended up at the same dump out in the desert as all other refuse. And, for sure, I can vouch that many of the people where I lived, at the time, had no idea that this bin was different than that bin, and they each were filled with the same generic trash.

So, in 2014, what appears to be a step towards recycling has been made — with a car “shredder” in the emirate of Sharjah, in the northern half of the UAE.

Figuring what to do with aged cars has been a problem here. Most of those who drive make quite a bit of money, and it is unusual to see a car more than 10 years old. (Our Audi is one of the exceptions.)

But where do they go?

The story in The National, linked, above, seems to suggest the unwanted cars were just parked somewhere and left to be buried by sand.

That had to mean tens of thousands of old cars moldering in back lots all over the country. So this Sharjah recycling plant certainly fills a niche.

The idea is the obvious stuff — to pull out the materials with value, to recycle engine parts or sell the engines so they can be overhauled.

Also to leave less of a mess behind. Even the biggest SUV beast, of the sort favored by the local citizenry, can be reduced to a small, dense chunk.

The issue with recycling household goods apparently comes down to the lack of a facility to handle the re-useable materials. Regular people can sort things, and the trash trucks can pick them up — but they were going nowhere.

That could be the next goal. A plant to recycle household stuff.

Like the dozen aluminum cans I have tossed, the past two weeks, or the 50 pounds of newspapers I sent towards a Dumpster.

That would be a nice move forward. And maybe I could stop thinking about my trash in the desert, breaking down, oh … never.