Tag: zero waste

  • On the Dirty Energy Policy Front

    by Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network While Energy Justice Network’s work is mainly focused on helping you win grassroots victories, we’ve had to weigh in on some state and national policies that would have major consequences for how many bad ideas need to be fought. Misguided policies aiming to limit coal or climate pollution continue…

  • Zero Waste Hierarchy

    You’ve probably heard the term Zero Waste before, but not been sure about what it meant The peer-reviewed definition of Zero Waste by Zero Waste International Alliance involves “designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury…

  • Baltimore Incinerator Proposal Permit Yanked

    On March 17, the permit for the Energy Answers trash incinerator planned for the Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland was declared invalid by the Maryland Department of the Environment, capping years of protest from local residents and a student-led organization, Free Your Voice, part of United Workers. The proposed incinerator would be the largest in the nation,…

  • Maine Towns Vote Whether to Burn Trash or Make Biogas

    Actually, there’s a third (and better) option and it’s called Zero Waste. – by Andy O’Brien, April 7, 2016, The Free Press On March 31, 2018, it will no longer be economical for midcoast towns to send their household trash to the  Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. (PERC) incinerator in Orrington. That’s the date when the facility loses…

  • Zero Waste to Landfill: How Incinerators Get Promoted

    – by Caroline Eader The incinerator industry promotes a false belief that the only choices we have in handling our waste is to either burn it for energy or to bury it in a landfill. The existence of what is known as a “waste-to-energy” (WTE) facility does not eliminate the need for a landfill. First,…

  • Dirty Energy Ash Blamed for Toxic Soil in Greenwich, CT

    – by Bill Cummings, December 28, 2014, CT Post The discovery of PCBs and other contaminants at Greenwich High School two years ago is only part of a mosaic of cancer-causing toxics that have cropped up at various sites around one of the nation’s wealthiest, most exclusive communities. Pollutants have now been confirmed at three other locations in Greenwich,…

  • Maryland “Zero-Waste” Plan Draws Fire Over Inclusion of Incineration

    – by Timothy B. Wheeler, December 15, 2014, The Baltimore Sun With Marylanders throwing away far more trash per person than the average American, the O’Malley administration released a long-range plan Monday to virtually eliminate placing waste in state landfills in the next 25 years. The plan is drawing mixed reaction, however, as environmentalists criticize the…

  • Composting vs. Waste-to-Energy: The Politics Of Green Waste

    – by Stephen Handley, October 3, 2014, Sustainablog In Tulsa, Oklahoma, green waste is very much on the political agenda. According to Tulsa World, the city’s trash board voted this week to pursue a plan to collect and incinerate it rather than invest in an active composting facility. Proponents of the composting plan are deeply disappointed by…

  • Allentown, PA Kills Controversial Waste Incinerator Proposal

    – by Emily Opilo, October 1, 2014, McClatchy-Tribune Regional News More than two years after the deal’s controversial approval, Allentown has terminated its contract with Delta Thermo Energy, ending speculation about whether the company would ever build a proposed waste-to-energy facility in the city. In a letter dated Sept. 26, Allentown solicitor Jerry Snyder wrote that Bucks…

  • Covanta Incineration Deal Discourages Rival Recycling Programs

    – Kathleen McLaughlin, August 4, 2014, Indianapolis Business Journal The city of Indianapolis faces financial penalties if it launches alternative recycling programs, under a pending deal with incinerator operator Covanta. The Indianapolis Board of Public Works will vote Wednesday on an agreement that’s worth more than $112 million in revenue to Covanta, which would become the…