DelcoEJ is focused on eliminating incineration in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
But why and what are the issues that surround this focused effort?
This page and its supporting sections will provide answers to that question, and we invite you to take a look, learn what you can, and to engage with us as we seek to rid Delco and our region of the harms of incineration.
Introduction
Using data you can also find on our website, ejmap.org, you can see that the Philadelphia area has 5 major incinerators. You can see that the NE United States has a heavy concentration of incinerators, along with Florida and Minnesota. None of these are good.
Here in Delaware County, aside from what is recycled, which isn’t much, trash or solid waste flows from the three main sources of Residential, Commercial, and Industrial waste generators. About 1/3rd goes directly to the Reworld incinerator in Chester, and the reminder is collected by local companies at two Delco transfer stations, and then delivered to Reworld. At our insistence, starting in 2023, about 15% of this transferred wasted started to flow directly to the Delco-owned Rolling Hills Landfill, but the rest is all burned at Reworld and the ash is then sent to Rolling Hills, mainly, and a few other area landfills.
Rolling Hills also receives waste trash and ash from Berks and Montgomery Counties, respectfully.
People live just feet from the Reworld incinerator in Chester. They also are a short distance from the DelCORA wastewater (that’s the stuff that goes down your home drains and toilets) treatment plant, which can smell pretty bad and leaves ash on cars and yards in Chester.
That’s one reason why DelcoEJ is working hard to stop all this incineration.
Keep Reading, too!
Here’s what else you can learn:
How is Delco’s waste managed?
- How we got here
- Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (DCSWA)
- Where our waste goes
- Where waste burned in Delco comes from
- DCSWA’s Rolling Hill’s Landfill
Why is Covanta trash burning a problem?
- Largest incinerator in U.S. with fewest pollution controls
- Leading air polluter in Delco, much worse than DELCORA
- Covanta’s emissions misinformation
- Violations
- Health impacts
Environmental Racism
- Trash Incineration and Environmental Racism
- Demographics around Covanta & DCSWA Rolling Hills Landfill
- Trash Incinerators in PA
- Landfills in PA
Why is incineration a problem in general?
- Incinerator life expectancy
- Why is incineration harmful?
- Why is it worse than landfilling?
- What about global warming? What about emissions from extra trucking?
What are the alternatives?
- Where would our waste go if we don’t burn it in Chester?
- Is there time to switch away from incineration so quickly?
- If Delco stops sending trash to the incinerator, won’t Covanta just replace it with other people’s trash?
- Will ending the county’s contract shut Covanta down?
- Isn’t it better to contract with Covanta and force them to install state-of-the-art pollution controls?
What will it cost to stop incinerating?
- Will it cost more to switch to landfilling?
- Where will the money come from?
- What does it cost to keep incinerating?
Tell me more about Zero Waste plans!
- What is Zero Waste and the Zero Waste Hierarchy?
- Unit-based Pricing: the most effective and cost-effective way to quickly reduce waste
- What happens to the “leftovers” on the path to Zero Waste?
What about Chester?
- Does Covanta provide many jobs for Chester residents?
- What do Chester residents want us to do?
- Does passing a resolution mean we’re telling Chester what to do?
- What will happen to Chester City if Delaware County stops burning trash at Covanta?
Why act now?
- County’s waste contract is coming up
- Municipalities are passing Zero Waste Resolutions, urging transition from incineration to Zero Waste