PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia City Council committee advanced a bill on Monday to ban the burning of the city’s trash, despite a plea from city officials to wait until there’s a more comprehensive plan for dealing with the waste it collects.
The bill’s sponsor, Jaime Gauthier, said the city’s trash has contributed to poor health in Chester, where it’s burned in the ReWorld Waste to Energy incinerator.
“Air does not stop at the county line, so it’s no surprise that Philly suffers too. One in five of our young people has asthma, earning us the unfortunate designation as the 2025 asthma capital,” Gauthier said.
Chester resident Zulene Mayfield testified about the harm caused by emissions from the incinerator.
“ReWorld emits cadmium, chromium, mercury, dioxins, arsenic — all known carcinogens. Chester residents suffer from rates of liver and bile cancer 91% more than the national average. Laryngeal cancer, 84% the national rate; Hodgkin lymphoma, 78% greater than the national rate. Pancreatic cancer, 50% greater than the national average. The list goes on and on and on.”
Carlton Williams, the director of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Clean and Green initiatives, said the administration applauds the bill’s effort to improve air quality and environmental justice for Chester, but noted the alternative — landfilling — also has problems.
“Landfills take up significant land, can release harmful methane gas, and have the risk of groundwater contamination.”
Sanitation Commissioner Crystal Shipman said disposing of the 600,000 tons of trash the city generates each year is a complex process, and shifting to all landfills would cost millions.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, waste-to-energy is considered more sustainable than traditional landfills.
Williams said the city will soon put out a request for bids for new disposal contracts and will analyze each bid for its environmental impact. He asked Gauthier to hold the bill until then, but she went ahead with the committee vote. It will now go to the full council, though a source said Gauthier won’t ask for a vote until the bids are in.