Consider all the various materials in various proportions that go into making an automobile (important if you want to recycle it), getting it all seperated and in meaningful quantities to be wortht he trouble to begin with.

What, *exactly* is a Progress re-supply ship made of? Is it something you need? In its *current* form? (That is, you might need aluminum for whatever you have in mind in orbit, but you need it in the form of, say a sphere of certain dimensions and thickness, not the size and shape of a Progress structure (or a soft drink can). And there's no handy smelter in orbit to change it to what you need. Such things are practical on Earth, because the infrastructure for it exists here.

Material you can't use is as useless as no material at all.

Is anyone 'mining' the sea for spent rocket hardware (other than the historical value of the recovered Liberty Bell 7)? Indeed, we don't go after the metal in most sunken ships. Why should far less massive orbital objects be any different?

If there's no use for it, you can de-orbit it properly so no one is harmed, or leave it in orbit where it may pose a threat to other, functioning orbital assets.

What you *really* need are reuseable launchers (indeed, the Holy Grail is to get to the time when we no longer need to preface 'launcher' with 'reuseable,' any more than we do with airplanes) that can service stations and other orbital assets economically…including bringing down the trash as part of the return leg of their flight, as is already done with the shuttle.

*Down*mass (including volume) is as important as how much you can take *to* orbit, and Orion will never be as good as the shuttle at that.

What a waste, considering how much it costs to put any mass into space.

Send these things on to the moon as future habitats or spare parts. Im sure the waste products could be disposed off without burning up useful spacecraft.

Tuff bags and some deodorant spray as propellant.

And yes I'm aware of the energy requirements of sending them elsewhere.

Surely they could be engineered to be both supply ships and building blocks of the Space station.

Perhaps a private company should (buy) the used ATVs, dispose of the waste in a more economic fashion, and reuse them in a more creative manner.

Regards
Damian