Waste-to-energy is preferable to landfilling

Waste-to-energy has earned distinction through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s solid waste management hierarchy, which recognizes combustion with energy recovery (as they refer to waste-to-energy) as preferable to landfilling.  EPA recommends that after efforts are made to reduce, reuse, and recycle, waste should be sent to waste-to-energy plants where the volume of trash will be reduced by 90%, the energy content of the waste will be recovered, and clean renewable electricity will be generated.  EPA’s hierarchy reflects what EPA has stated previously—that the nation’s waste-to-energy plants produce electricity with “less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.” 

Municipal solid waste must be managed using an integrated waste management system.  IWSA encourages and supports community programs to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste.  Communities that utilize waste-to-energy plants recycle nearly twenty percent more than communities that do not have waste-to-energy plants.  In addition, the nation’s waste-to-energy plants recycle more than 700,000 tons of ferrous metals per year—enough to manufacture more than a half million new cars. 

However, after waste is reduced, reused, and recycled, waste will be leftover that must be managed.  That is where waste-to-energy comes in.  EPA's solid waste hierarchy gives preference to waste-to-energy over landfills because waste-to-energy reduces the volume of waste by 90 percent, destroys bacteria and pollutants, prevents methane from being created, saves valuable land, recovers more energy from waste, and creates a more sustainable municipal waste management system. 

EPA's hierarchy is consistent with actions taken by the European Union, which went further by establishing a legally binding requirement to reduce landfilling of biodegradable waste.  The result has been increased recycling rates, higher waste-to-energy usage, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and less dependence on fossil fuels.

EPA’s Solid Waste Management Hierarchy underscores the importance of waste-to-energy as a critical component of any sustainable integrated waste management system.

Resources:

IWSA Fact Sheet on EPA's Solid Waste Hierarchy