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Lauren Shaffer

Ben Henderson

CAS 138

13 April 2018

Waste to Energy

When driving along any highway in the state of Pennsylvania, one is bound to pass a

number of landfills, some visible, some not. In fact, most tractor trailers on these highways are

actually just filled with waste that is being transported from New York, New Jersey, 28 other

states, Puerto Rico and Canada to its destination of one of Pennsylvania’s 46 active landfills,

most being in rural areas. This does not include the countless inactive landfills that have been

filled to capacity in areas that are usually already despoiled by other activities, near interstate

highways, and have large expanses of land of which the prices are low. In 2010, 6.3 million tons

of waste were imported on top of the 8.7 million tons generated per year in Pennsylvania alone

(“Waste Facts”). Rather than allow this waste to sit and continue to pile up, there should be a

way to be rid of this waste in a way that is not environmentally harmful and is economically

beneficial.

At this rate, even more landfills will need to be created to accommodate our garbage

issue and the environmental effects will be increasingly more evident and harmful, especially for

those in rural areas vulnerable to dumping who are poor, uneducated, and typically minorities.

This raises the question of how we are to find a solution when society is so addicted to

consumption; many problems have already been created due to current waste disposal

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techniques, and when recycling is limited to plastics, glass, paper and metals. While better

management techniques have been put in place such as lining the ground first, the environmental

impacts have already been observed from landfills that have been in operation for some time.

According to El Fadel, Findikakis and Leckie, the effects on the environment that landfills create

lead to other issues in the surrounding ecosystem for both humans and animals:

...The migration of gas and leachate away from the landfill boundaries and their release

into the surrounding environment present serious environmental concerns at both existing

and new facilities. Besides potential health hazards, these concerns include, and are not

limited to, fires and explosions, vegetation damage, unpleasant odors, landfill settlement,

groundwater pollution, air pollution and global warming (1997).

These issues, along with others such as increased traffic, noise and dust, rodents, and decreased

property value are common in almost every municipality that houses a landfill. If landfills were

to be eradicated, these problems would be as well.

Currently, the state of Pennsylvania has six resource recovery (waste-to-energy) facilities,

which are places where waste is burned, the methane gas from the incineration is trapped, and

then that gas is burned for energy. Another method used in these facilities is a mass burn, where

the heat released from burning trash converts water to steam which is then sent through a turbine

generator that creates electricity (Environmental Protection Agency). This sustainable method

not only solves the issue of where to put incoming waste but also how to get rid of existing waste

in landfills, and it does so in a clean way with only ash as a byproduct. In fact, according to

Penn State Extension, “...burning the solid wastes into ash, resource recovery reduces the

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volume of waste entering the landfill by approximately 90 percent and recovers valuable energy

that benefits all parts of society” (“Resource Recovery”). In a world that is running out of natural

resources to use for fuel, this also uses waste as a “renewable” resource for power that we as

humans are actually creating. This method ranks below only one other management strategy on

the non-hazardous waste management hierarchy, and that is source reduction and

recycling/reuse, which requires an attitude shift in society and years of transition.

A policy regarding waste-to-energy methods, however, could realistically be put into

effect by 2030. This policy would entail that all waste generated and imported into Pennsylvania

must be processed through a resource recovery facility which in turn provides energy for the

municipality in which it is located. Additionally, existing waste in landfills must go through the

same process until the only standing waste is that which is in line to be incinerated at energy

recovery combustion sites. Though this would be funded through taxes for public, government

owned landfills, the return on investment would be free energy for places in that municipality

since homes, businesses, and other buildings are providing the fuel. The method of payment

currently in place is called a tipping fee, which is basically the dumping cost per ton of trash. In

Pennsylvania the average is between $55 to $75 per household annually on top of taxes paid to

ensure trash service, which is required in most municipalities (“Historic Tipping Fees”). This

policy would have taxes or fees that are significantly lower than the current payment amounts in

place. In terms of privately-owned landfills, part of the law would state that dumping of waste in

any form, including what is currently considered legal, will be subject to expensive fines or even

prosecution if certain environmental impact laws are not followed. These private waste facilities

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will also have the option to surrender waste either to the local resource recovery facility for

payment or construct a waste-to-energy facility of their own that complies with the policy, which

will be rewarded with a large tax break from the government.

This will be instated in every municipality in Pennsylvania and the state will be divided

into a certain amount of regions which correspond with population and waste generation so that

each region will send their waste to a waste-to-energy facility within their region that can handle

the amount of garbage produced within it. Simply put, there will be a number of these facilities

proportionate to population, and divided into regions much like the current system. This new

program will be run by the Department of Environmental Protection, which currently manages

waste through its Bureau of Waste Management with divisions in hazardous waste management,

municipal and residual waste, reporting and fee collection, and waste minimization and planning

(Department of Environmental Protection). The facilities that are operated by the government

will also have to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, which is

“...The most widely used green building rating system in the world...available for virtually all

building, community and home project types, LEED provides a framework to create healthy,

highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings” (United States Green Building Council), and

will use the energy that they are creating, making them self-sustaining. Without energy costs, the

facilities will function based on tax dollars that currently go toward the operation and

maintenance of landfills, incinerators, and waste treatment plants, and taxes will be the payment

from citizens for use of the energy as well.

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 As well as being financially independent, the new facilities would also provide jobs for

local people, which is beneficial in rural areas that are in poverty. While landfills and

incineration facilities are promoted as being beneficial for rural communities due to being “safe”,

providing jobs, and increasing tax revenue, no landfill is truly safe, waste to energy facilities

would provide significantly more jobs, and tax revenue would be put toward something clean

and beneficial to all. Many communities in Pennsylvania are former coal mining towns that have

been in a “bust” after the “boom” around the turn of the century until about the 1940s, so these

areas have experienced struggling economies and losses of jobs since it is not beneficial for

companies to be located there. The average waste to energy facility in the US is responsible for

the creation of 58 full time jobs that are generally salaried, skilled positions with relatively high

pay (“Benefits of Waste to Energy”). Additionally, these jobs have at least a 40 year projected

life. Instead of having the few steps of collection, dumping, and monitoring of the landfills,

these new facilities will require a much larger variety and amount of workers to fulfill the needs

of an operation of that size and complexity. This will mean that younger people will be moving

back to these places for the green jobs the plant provides, along with their families, and revitalize

the economy and community.

There are obviously countless benefits to the environment as well. Without landfills,

there will be less leaching of chemicals from household cleaning products into the ground and

water, the reduction of 15.4% of methane and carbon dioxide gases produced in the United

States annually (Environmental Protection Agency), increased biodiversity, better soil fertility,

and healthier human beings. These positive effects have been seen in Sweden, where 32

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waste-to-energy plants have been in use and now less than 1% of their trash ends up in landfills.

In fact, “That means that the two million tons of waste incinerated each year produces around

670,000 tons worth of fuel oil energy” (IFL Science), eliminating the need for the use of any

fossil fuels to heat and power homes in the country. There will be no more need for anti-landfill

movements such as “Not In My Backyard” because the noise, dust, odor, fires, decreased

property value and pollution will no longer be plaguing anyone’s backyards, especially the

vulnerable population that is currently being affected who cannot fight back against the choice of

location for these landfills and incinerators. With closer facilities, there will also be smaller

distances for trucks to transport the waste and therefore less noise and air pollution as well as

less destruction of roads due to wear from large tractor trailers.

Looking forward to the future, it is easy to see this energy from regular waste and food

waste powering cars and even the garbage trucks that it is transported in. Domestic production of

energy also helps to lessen reliance on other countries for oil (and dependence on non-renewable

energy sources overall) and creates stability in the availability of energy and its price. By-

products are also prevalent in the form of recyclable metals separated and found in the ash and

anaerobic digestion, which can be used as fertilizers and improves the nutrient content of soil.

This can be sold or donated to local farmers in rural areas that are struggling with poor soil

quality due to leaching from the previous landfill. This would also aid the small, diminishing

agriculture industry in some parts of Pennsylvania where farmers are in poverty but their area

would benefit from fresh, local produce, and would be a sustainable method of using the only

byproduct of a clean energy conversion for a good purpose.

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 This policy would be a huge step in reversing the negative environmental impacts that

Pennsylvania has endured for the past few hundred years. It makes sense not only

environmentally, but also economically, sustainably, health-wise, financially, and overall is

beneficial to both the individual and the community. By enacting this policy as the second largest

waste importer and creator in the United States (“Pennsylvania Has a Ridiculous Amount of

Trash in Its Landfills”), an example would be set for other states to follow as well, leading to a

better country overall. In the current situation where climate change is only getting worse, people

are unemployed and struggling, and high taxes and fees are paid for trash that is sent off

somewhere and then only has negative impacts, resource recovery facilities are the only option to

begin to help our problems. When the facts are examined and the benefits far outweigh the

downfalls, it is evident that it is finally time for action to be taken against landfills in this state

and for clean energy to be used to keep Pennsylvania beautiful and keep our people healthy and

happy.

Works Cited
Andrew, Elise. “Less Than 1% Of Sweden's Trash Ends Up In Landfills.” IFLScience,
IFLScience, 20 Mar. 2018,
www.iflscience.com/environment/less-1-swedens-trash-ends-landfills/.

“Basic Information about Landfill Gas.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 14 Mar. 2018,
www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas.

“Benefits of Waste to Energy.” Solid Waste Disposal Authority,

swdahsv.org/benefits-of-waste-to-energy/.

“Energy Recovery from the Combustion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).” EPA,
Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Apr. 2018,
www.epa.gov/smm/energy-recovery-combustion-municipal-solid-waste-msw.

El Fadel, Findikakis and Leckie. “Environmental Impacts of Solid Waste Landfilling.” Journal
of Environmental Management, Academic Press, 25 May 2002,
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479785701314.

Hauser, Robert. “LANDFILLS: Public, Private Landfill Ownership Battles Continue.”

Waste360, 3 May 2011, www.waste360.com/mag/waste_landfills_public_private.

“Historic Tipping Fees and Commodity Values”. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office
of Resource Conservation and Recovery, 2015, Historic Tipping Fees and Commodity
Values, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-12/documents/historic_tipping_fees_
and_commodity_values_02062015_508.pdf.

“Municipal Waste Program.” P.A. Department of Environmental Protection,

www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Land/Waste/SolidWaste/MunicipalWaste/Pages/default.aspx.

“Resource Recovery: Turning Waste into Energy.” Penn State Extension,

extension.psu.edu/resource-recovery-turning-waste-into-energy.

Sasko, Claire. “Pennsylvania Has a Ridiculous Amount of Trash in Its Landfills.” Philadelphia
Magazine, 4 Aug. 2016,
www.phillymag.com/news/2016/08/04/pennsylvania-landfills/#cVmdeE15lStOA1l6.99.
“Waste Facts.” Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association,
pawasteindustries.org/waste-industry/waste-facts/.

“What Is LEED?” LEED , United States Green Building Council, new.usgbc.org/leed.