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Incineration is Big Climate Problem, New Report Says

RallyToday to Affirm That Closing Detroit Incinerator is a Necessary Step to Reduce the City's Climate Impact

 

June 18, 2008


Who: Proponents of replacing Detroit’s expensive, dirty incinerator with aggressive recycling and less expensive, cleaner trash disposal solutions. Dave Ciplet co-author of the report Stop Trashing the Climate will speak.

What: A public rally at the incinerator the corner of Palmer and St. Antoine

When: This morning, Wednesday, June 18 at 10:30 a.m.

Why: In addition to the high cost and public health problems associated with the incinerator, a new report details incineration’s impact on climate change.

 

Earlier this month, The Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Association (GDRRA) communicated to Convanta, the operator of the Detroit incinerator, that GDRRA will not renew the facility’s lease. It is still not clear if GDRRA has intentions of continued incineration of Detroit’s solid waste. Detroit has the largest incinerator in the world. Opponents of the incinerator have long expressed concerns about the negative health and economic impacts of the incinerator. A new national report titled Stop Trashing the Climate shows that closing the incinerator and implementing a recycling program in Detroit is also a necessary step to reduce the city’s impact on climate change.

The Coalition for a Clean and Green Detroit and Detroit residents are gathering today in front of the incinerator to call attention to the connection between incineration and climate change. Rhonda Anderson, Director of the Sierra Club’s Detroit Environmental Justice program says, “It is time to retire this dinosaur of a technology that has polluted our city and planet for far too long. We are gathering today to say that incineration is a major liability in the context of climate change.”

The incinerator has cost Detroit 1.2 billion dollars in its 20 years of operation, and has disproportionately plagued neighboring residents with pollution linked to high asthma rates and other illness. Detroit is also the only city in the U.S. of its size that does not have a curbside recycling program.

Written by the organizations Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Institute for Local Self Reliance and Eco-Cycle, Stop Trashing the Climate reveals that significantly decreasing waste disposed in incinerators and landfills nationally would reduce greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent to closing 21% of the nation’s 417 coal-burning power plants­the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

The report also shows that incinerators emit even more CO2 per unit of electricity generated than coal-fired power plants. This is especially important in the case of Detroit as is shown by new research conducted by Brad van Guilder with the Ann Arbor based Ecology Center. As van Guilder says, “We found that the Detroit incinerator emits 600,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually­the equivalent amount that approximately 100,000 passenger cars produce in one year. By recycling, rather than incinerating materials, we can dramatically reduce Detroit’s impact on the climate.”

Incinerating materials also wastes three to five times the amount of energy that recycling materials conserves. This is akin to using 3 to 5 units of energy to produce one unit of energy. Anderson says, “While representatives of the incinerator industry often call trash burners ‘Waste to Energy’ plants, we think it makes more sense to call them ‘Waste of Energy’ plants. This is because incinerating, rather than recycling materials, wastes a great deal of energy. It is bad for the climate and bad for our city.”

Incinerating materials, rather than reusing them, requires a constant flow of resources to be pulled out of the earth, processed in factories, shipped around the world, and burned or buried in communities. Stop Trashing the Climate shows that this global system contributes greenhouse gas emissions at every step of the way. By minimizing waste disposal, greenhouse gases can be reduced in sectors that together represent 36.7% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

David Ciplet, U.S. Coordinator of GAIA and co-author of the report says, “Detroit is not alone. In the U.S. and globally we are at a critical crossroads. Will we invest taxpayer money in more incineration? Or will we put an end to this harmful practice and establish nationwide recycling and composting programs­bringing green jobs and tangible economic opportunities?”

The answers to these questions in Detroit have immense implications for the climate, economy and the health of residents.

The Stop Trashing the Climate full report and executive summary can be downloaded at: www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org.

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For press questions, please contact:

Rhonda Anderson, Sierra Club/Detroit 313-965-0052

Brad van Guilder, Ecology Center, Ann Arbor 734-663-2400 ext 114

David Ciplet, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives: 510-846-5020

 

 

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