By Sue Edwards, Member, ExComm, Southeast PA Group Sierra Club
 
 “When you’re living among the trash, you begin to feel like trash yourself.”[i]  So said Zulene Mayfield about her neighborhood close to the Covanta Resource Recovery Facility, which is a waste incinerator, also called “trash to steam,’ in Chester, PA.  “[T]he way that we manage waste—or don’t manage waste—has severe health impacts on communities located near incinerators and polluting facilities,” said Denise Patel of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).[ii]
 
In the spring of 2021, as part of a campaign led by a Chester residents' organization, several nearby borough councils passed resolutions[iii] asking Delaware County Council not to extend its contract that sends the majority of the county's trash to Covanta (along with trash from NY, NJ, and a number of other places) and to develop a Zero Waste Plan. In the existing contract, Delaware County municipalities have been penalized if they sent less than 300,000 tons of trash per year to Covanta. So much for encouraging recycling and reducing waste.
 
A 2019 study[iv] by The New School concluded that so-called “waste to energy” plants emit mercury, lead, particulate matter 2.5 and 10, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. Incinerators in the U.S. emit more of these pollutants (as well as carbon dioxide) per kilowatt hour of energy generated than fossil fuel power plants. These greenhouse gases are feeding the fire of global warming, and particulate matter increases the risk of respiratory death in infants and increases death rates from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases including lung cancer and asthma.  Incinerators also create toxic ash, which contains poisonous concentrations of dioxins and heavy metals.
 
Research indicates that Chester’s residents suffer from heart disease, asthma and other chronic illnesses at levels far higher than the national average.[v]  Covanta’s Chester plant is one of the “the dirty dozen” of the 73 trash-to-steam plants in the US. It has fewer pollution controls than similar incinerators around the country.
 
If enough municipalities in Delaware County persuade the county to cut its ties with Covanta, this will mean more waste will go to landfills in the region, which is also not a great alternative, but at least less harmful, since the incinerator ash is far more toxic than untreated waste.
 
What is needed is a reduction in the amount of waste created.  What are some actions that cities and towns can take to reduce their waste?  There is an international campaign called Zero Waste International Alliance (zwia.org), and there is useful information about Delaware County efforts regarding zero waste at the website of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living. at https://www.chesterresidents.org/zerowaste/#ZW.
 
Here are a few avenues to explore:

•  A Zero Waste Commission could be established to come up with alternatives, such as a Material Recovery Facility that would separate out items that could be re-used as well as glass, tin, and aluminum.
• An organic waste (garbage) collecting operation could be created so that this valuable resource can be composted and used in gardens and farms, not burned.
• Manufacturers and other businesses can be pressured to re-think their products and packaging.  We can patronize stores that encourage bringing our own containers.  And each of us can consider the packaging whenever we buy something (or decide not to). Before throwing away things that could be of use, we can donate them to thrift stores and free stores or hold a yard sale.
• Towns can institute a "Pay As You Throw" system, in which residents pay based upon how much trash they put out at the curb. Where it has been tried, trash has been substantially reduced, and recycling has increased. Yes, recycling has significant challenges, but it is worth improving for the sake of neighbors who suffer the consequences of living next to a polluting plant.  This is an Environmental Justice issue.
• Education directed to all county residents can urge them to avoid as many single-use plastics as possible such as water bottles, explain how to recycle properly, and the importance of doing this, including the impact of waste in neighboring communities when it is burned.
• Look at construction and demolition waste. Where does it go now? How can it be reduced? It is said to be the largest component of waste in many countries, including the U.S., which has the third largest amount of waste per capita in the world.[vi]

 
The Sierra Club's position on incineration is as follows:
Guidance on Hazardous Waste Incinerators by the Hazardous Materials Committee[vii]
Incinerators should not be used to manage hazardous waste unless it can be demonstrated that there is no other technically feasible method for management of a specific waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s new incinerator regulations are not yet in place. Adequate regulatory frameworks do not exist at the state and federal level to protect public health and the environment from the hazards of incineration. Technologies other than incineration are more appropriate for managing many hazardous wastes, and a region must give priority to siting and permitting such facilities. The programs that direct manufacturers to produce less waste are neither strong enough nor fully implemented. Disposers must document that they have done all they can to avoid, minimize, recycle, or otherwise treat a waste before sending it to an incinerator. Incinerator permits must allow only such residuals to be accepted.

Notes:

[i]     O’Reilly, Andrew. (2021). “She’s Taking Out the Trash.” Patagonia.  https://www.patagonia.com/stories/shes-taking-out-the-trash/story-93950.html
[ii]    Yang, Celine.  (14 May, 2021). “O&A: Addressing the Environmental Justice Implications of Waste.” Environmental and Energy Studies Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/qa-addressing-the-environmental-justice-implications-of-waste
[iii]   Chester Residents Concerned for Quality of Living. “Resolutions.” (2021). Chester Residents.org. https://www.chesterresidents.org/resolutions/
[iv] Baptista, PhD, Ana Isabel and Adrienne Perovich, MPA, et al. (May 2019). “U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators: An Industry in Decline.” Tishman Environment and Design Center. The New School. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d14dab43967cc000179f3d2/t/5d5c4bea0d59ad00012d220e/1566329840732/CR_GaiaReportFinal_05.21.pdf
[v]    Sullivan, Will. (23 Aug, 2017). “Too Much Pollution for One Place.” Nova. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/too-much-pollution/
[vi]   Byrnes, Hristina and Thomas C. Frohlich. (12 Jul, 2019). “Canada produces the most waste in the world. The U.S. ranks third.” USA Today.   https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/12/canada-united-states-worlds-biggest-producers-of-waste/39534923/
[vii]  Sierra Club. (Last updated 18-19 Mar, 1989). “Hazardous Waste Management.” Sierra Club.org. https://www.sierraclub.org/policy/pollution-waste-management/hazardous-waste-management