The Boston Globe
Mass. to continue trash incinerator moratorium
written by David Abel, Globe Staff
Friday December 11, 2009 02:35 PM
After a year-long review as part the state's effort to revise its solid waste master plan and reduce the 1.5 million tons a year of trash exported from Massachusetts, environmental officials announced today that they will continue a 15-year-old moratorium on expanding or building new incinerators.
State officials had sparked a storm of controversy this year as they held public meetings around the state to consider revising regulations that have banned the expansion of existing plants since 1994. New incinerators have been banned since 1990.
"Focusing on incineration and landfills is the wrong end of the waste equation," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said in a statement. "While Massachusetts is ahead of the national average in recycling and some communities like Nantucket are leading the way, there is a lot more we can do to increase recycling and reduce disposal of useful materials."
The decision to extend the moratorium was hailed by environmental groups.
"This is great news for the environment, and for public health," said James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club. "We applaud the administration for outlining a comprehensive agenda to promote green energy and combat waste that doesn't include burning trash."
Over the years, to the chagrin of environmental groups, waste management companies have lobbied aggressively to lift the moratorium, arguing that new technology significantly reduces emissions and that it's better to burn the trash and collect the resulting energy than dump it in the state's rapidly filling landfills or ship it out of state, sometimes as far as South Carolina.
But environmental officials had decried the efforts to end the moratorium, arguing that new incinerators, however improved technologically, would contribute more pollution and hamper more environmentally sound plans to reduce the state's waste. They said allowing new plants would encourage more incineration of waste and stifle incentives to recycle.
They also noted that the state already incinerates about one-quarter of the 12 million tons of waste it produces a year -- significantly above the average 7 percent of trash burned nationwide.
In a news release, Bowles said the plan would strengthen the moratorium by reducing the amount of recyclable material going into the waste stream. It will also develop new standards for existing waste-to-energy facilities that require higher recycling rates in waste collection areas, lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and higher efficiency in storing energy.
State officials said they expect to issue a new draft of the solid waste master plan in early 2010.
Mass. to continue trash incinerator moratorium
written by David Abel, Globe Staff
Friday December 11, 2009 02:35 PM
After a year-long review as part the state's effort to revise its solid waste master plan and reduce the 1.5 million tons a year of trash exported from Massachusetts, environmental officials announced today that they will continue a 15-year-old moratorium on expanding or building new incinerators.
State officials had sparked a storm of controversy this year as they held public meetings around the state to consider revising regulations that have banned the expansion of existing plants since 1994. New incinerators have been banned since 1990.
"Focusing on incineration and landfills is the wrong end of the waste equation," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said in a statement. "While Massachusetts is ahead of the national average in recycling and some communities like Nantucket are leading the way, there is a lot more we can do to increase recycling and reduce disposal of useful materials."
The decision to extend the moratorium was hailed by environmental groups.
"This is great news for the environment, and for public health," said James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club. "We applaud the administration for outlining a comprehensive agenda to promote green energy and combat waste that doesn't include burning trash."
Over the years, to the chagrin of environmental groups, waste management companies have lobbied aggressively to lift the moratorium, arguing that new technology significantly reduces emissions and that it's better to burn the trash and collect the resulting energy than dump it in the state's rapidly filling landfills or ship it out of state, sometimes as far as South Carolina.
But environmental officials had decried the efforts to end the moratorium, arguing that new incinerators, however improved technologically, would contribute more pollution and hamper more environmentally sound plans to reduce the state's waste. They said allowing new plants would encourage more incineration of waste and stifle incentives to recycle.
They also noted that the state already incinerates about one-quarter of the 12 million tons of waste it produces a year -- significantly above the average 7 percent of trash burned nationwide.
In a news release, Bowles said the plan would strengthen the moratorium by reducing the amount of recyclable material going into the waste stream. It will also develop new standards for existing waste-to-energy facilities that require higher recycling rates in waste collection areas, lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and higher efficiency in storing energy.
State officials said they expect to issue a new draft of the solid waste master plan in early 2010.
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