[Click on the city/county name for a copy of the contract.]
- In 2025, Energy Justice Network and Delco Environmental Justice launched a campaign for the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, a bill drafted in 2021 by Mike Ewall to ban Philadelphia from burning its trash, recyclables, or compostables. The bill was introduced in September 2025 by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and passed out of her Environment Committee in a 5-1 vote in November 2025. See PhillyZeroWaste.org for more.
- “Put or pay” clause guarantees that the city give Covanta 258,694 tons/year to burn or pay anyway.
- Contract is 4 years with three 1-year renewal options, starting 7/1/2019 and running through 6/30/2026 if all renewals are used.
- Opposition:
- 5/9/2019 Energy Justice Network letter supported by 40 groups opposing Philadelphia waste incineration contracts
- 5/2/2019 Letter from American Sustainable Business Council opposing Philadelphia waste incineration contracts
- All 11 members of the public who testified at the Philadelphia City Council hearing opposed the contracts. City Council adopted them, anyway.
- Support:
- 5/31/2019 Letter from Mayor Kirkland asking for Philly to sent waste to be burned in Chester.
- Transcript of 6/5/2019 Philadelphia City Council hearing on waste contracts, including the Philadelphia Streets Department statement that Chester Environmental Partnership (which is funded by Reworld/Covanta) also wrote a letter to invite Philly trash burning in Chester (see p. 134).
- Runs from 5/1/2017 through 4/30/2022
- “Put or pay” clause guarantees that the county burn 300,000 tons/year or pay anyway. Between 2015-2019, Delaware County sent an average of 357,246 tons of waste per year to Covanta. If the county were to reduce its waste by any more than 16%, the county would be financially penalized under the current contract.
- 20-30 year contract, signed in 2013, for 800,000 tons/year of Manhattan, New York City trash by train from the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station to two Covanta incinerators, Covanta Niagara and Covanta Delaware Valley.
Ocean City, MD
- Current Covanta contract runs from 6/17/2012 through 12/31/2021, burning Ocean City’s trash and recycling (they don’t recycle). See the 2012 contract and 2015 amendment.
- 2022-2026 contract, approved illegally on 8/2/2021 in a 7-0 vote of Ocean City Council, pretending that it’s a contract “extension” and bypassing the Town Code’s requirement for competitive bidding. The contract would continue the burning of Ocean City’s recyclables and trash for a term of two years plus three 1-year renewal options, at a cost of $88/ton in 2022 going up to $97.14/ton in 2026.
