1.   BPI says its recycling operation will close at Christmas unless the government acts.

2.   Ford bought a recycling company, Copher Brothers Parts, in Tampa, Fla., in March and is negotiating with other recycling operations nationwide.

3.   Other companies, including WMX Technologies Inc., the biggest hauler of trash, also have recycling operations, but none have pressed as intently as Browning-Ferris.

4.   Someone wants to build a huge recycling operation.

5.   The investigators said the recycling operations often involved young children, many of whom were unaware of the hazards.

6.   The report also notes evidence of similar unregulated recycling operations in Pakistan and India.

7.   The first purchase, in March, was Copher Brothers Auto Parts in Tampa, a state-of-the-art recycling operation that serves central Florida.