Incinerator or landfill? Philly’s trash problem | Studio 2 from WHYY | 01/28/26

(Taken from WHYY’s YouTube description) Philadelphia City Council is weighing a bill that would ban the city from sending waste to incinerators like the one in Chester — the largest trash-to-energy incinerator in the country. It’s the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, and was introduced by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. Philadelphia sends 37% of its waste to incinerators, most going to Reworld’s Chester facility. Activists and public health experts say the incinerator emits dangerous pollutants and point to the city’s high rates of childhood asthma. Opponents say it also hinders economic development in the city, leading to more blight. But Reworld, formerly Covanta, which owns the plant, points out that their Chester facility generates electricity for 51,000 homes and that diverting Philadelphia trash to landfills would increase greenhouse gas emissions. So today, how do incinerators stack up to landfills? Why are they so often built in working-class Black neighborhoods? And what should we do with all our trash?

Guests: -Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, represents Philadelphia’s Third Council District -Zulene Mayfield, activist with Chester Residents Concerned for Quality of Living (CRCQL) -Sintana Vergara, assistant professor of engineering at Swarthmore College

Read the full WHYY article here.