[photoemulator]

Not to be a spur under your saddle, but why not just collect the junk to a higher orbit for reuse at a later date; maybe as extra parts for space station repair? It's expensive to get material up there, so why send it down into an incinerator so no one can use it?

[rwesterdahl]

Not a spur at all, you are spot on! With higher orbits like GEO (35,000 km altitude) it actually makes more sense to take debris and dead satellites out even further to what is known as the 'graveyard' orbit. We can also see a future where we take parts off dead satellites (ie solar panels) and move them to a hub where they can be repurposed. On that note take a look at what the company Arkisys is doing!