[Torhal]

The only time table.sort() should be causing "garbage memory" is if you are creating a new sort function every time you call it instead of re-using a single function.

Bad:

table.sort(my_table, function(a, b)
                                if a.name < b.name then
                                    return true
                                else
                                    return false
                                end
                             end)

Good:

local function MySortFunction(a, b)
    if a.name < b.name then
        return true
    else
        return false
    end
end

table.sort(my_table, MySortFunction)