On Wednesday, 9/17/2025, Delaware County Council adopted an ambitious Zero Waste Plan that we were instrumental in developing throughout a four-year process. This plan is significant for a few reasons:
- The Plan includes a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment which documents that incinerating trash at the Reworld (formerly Covanta) trash incinerator in the City of Chester is 2.3 times more harmful for climate, environment, and human health than disposing of waste in the county’s landfill directly, without burning it first. That analysis also shows that transportation emissions are insignificant compared to those from the disposal facilities.
- The Plan is explicitly guided by the internationally peer-reviewed definition of Zero Waste and the Zero Waste Hierarchy — a set of waste management priorities that we developed which are now used as an international standard through the Zero Waste International Alliance. In contrast with EPA’s waste management hierarchy, which places incineration above landfilling, the Zero Waste Hierarchy recognizes that incineration is worse and is considered “unacceptable” in a Zero Waste system.
- The Plan states: “In evaluating and understanding these impacts, Delaware County has expressed interest in moving away from incineration.”
In supporting the plan, many Delaware County residents emailed County Council to urge them to fund the plan, end incineration ASAP, and preserve the county’s landfill space for Delaware County use instead of selling it off to other counties and states.