Chester mayor urges Philadelphia to not send trash to his city

By Kathleen E. Carey | [email protected] | delcotimes.com

Originally published on Delco Daily Times on January 28, 2026 at 7:32 AM EST

Chester Mayor Stefan Roots recently spoke before Philadelphia City Council to make the case to have council send the city’s annual 2 million tons of trash somewhere else other than Chester.

In September, Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, which would have prevented Philadelphia from contracting with companies that incinerate the city’s waste or recyclables.

Last week, Roots spoke to Philadelphia City Council about the impacts that city’s trash has on the Delaware County city.

“I’m the first mayor of Chester fighting environmental racism in Chester,” he told them. “The citizens of Chester want a leader that fights for them. I’m here begging Philadelphia to join the Fight for Chester.”

Roots said the incinerator receives 30% of its trash from Philadelphia, 30% New York and 30% from Delaware County. According to the Reworld Delaware Valley website, the facility burns more than 1.17 million tons of waste each year.

Roots said 7 million pounds of all types of trash is being burned in Chester on a daily basis.

“Listen closely,” the Chester mayor said to Philadelphia City Council, “98% of trash burned in Chester comes from somewhere else. Chester contributes just 2% of the trash burned in Chester. What we get in return is sick people, a devalued riverfront, and no mayor willing to fight this battle from Chester City Hall until the citizens elected me in a landslide victory.”

A 1978 Chester High graduate, Roots said that when he was growing up in Chester, he never had a friend who had asthma. At a 2006 Keystone First book event about childhood asthma, he learned that 80% of the students had asthma.

“What changed in Chester between my time as a child and the children of 2006?” Roots asked, recalling oil slicks in the water he said no longer appear and the same for the refinery flares he could see from his bedroom.

He also spoke of the 1978 Wade Dump fire, which was one of America’s worst hazardous waste fires that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Chester Fire Department members and others. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency labeled it a Superfund site in 1987.

“The citizens of Chester want a leader that fights for them,” Roots added. “I’m here begging Philadelphia to join the Fight for Chester. I will fight anyone who dumps on Chester or takes from Chester. That’s who I am! That’s why I’m here.”

Reworld has consistently claimed that its emissions are well below the state and federal guidelines.

They say that 99.9% of what comes out of their stacks are elements found commonly in the air: water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

They note that they established a Community Outreach and Environmental Justice Policy in 2011 to reduce emissions and minimize emissions. They also added their collaboration with the Chester Environmental Partnership as a way to have meaningful community involvement.

Linda Ribakusky, Reworld communications director, issued this statement on the matter:

“Bill No. 250768, introduced as the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, is misleading in both name and impact. While framed as an environmental measure, the legislation would actually increase pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and truck traffic by forcing more waste into distant landfills, moving Philadelphia backward rather than forward on its environmental and climate goals. Decisions about Philadelphia’s waste policy should be grounded in transparent, verifiable data and credible science, not fear or misinformation.

“The world’s most sustainable countries, like Germany, use waste-to-energy facilities, like the one in Chester, to help reduce the environmental impact of managing waste, placing facilities directly in their cities. The European Union, the United Nations, and the U.S. EPA all recognize waste-to-energy as better than landfills.

“The Chester facility has served sustainable waste management needs while converting waste that cannot be recycled into renewable electricity that powers approximately 51,000 homes annually. Its operations reduce landfill volume by 90 percent and recycle metals equivalent to 29,000 cars and 67 million aluminum cans. Every ton of waste diverted from a landfill avoids greenhouse gas emissions equal to 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide by helping prevent the release of methane, which is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas.

“The facility operates up to 99 percent below federal emission guidelines and achieved a 99.95 percent compliance rate with its continuous emissions standards in 2024. With advanced air pollution control systems, its contribution to local air pollution is minimal, accounting for approximately 1 percent of PM10 and 0.2 percent of PM2.5 emissions in the county.

“Reworld values its workforce and the skilled union jobs supported by the facility and believes any discussion of future waste policy should consider impacts on workers, community stability and regional economic activity.

“Reworld remains committed to operating safely, investing in advanced pollution controls, and engaging in open dialogue about how responsible waste management and environmental progress can and do coexist.”

At the Philadelphia City Council meeting, Roots noted that Chester recently received $37,500 from the state Department of Environmental Protection because of an environmental penalty Reworld received.

“I don’t want money from air pollution violations, especially from the company that preaches how environmentally friendly they are,” he said. “I just want air pollution to go away in Chester.

Roots implored City Council to consider the impacts of where their trash goes.

“That gum wrapper on a Philadelphia sidewalk today will be inhaled into the lungs of a child in Chester tomorrow,” he said. “Philadelphia City Council has the power to end that situation. When you go to bed tonight knowing your yes vote today eliminates future childhood asthma in Chester, isn’t it all worth it?”

Philadelphia City Council did not move to vote on Stop Trashing Our Air Act last week and it is unknown if any vote will be taken.

Read the orginally article here: https://www.delcotimes.com/2026/01/28/chester-mayor-urges-philadelphia-to-not-send-trash-to-reworld/