Dear County Council:
Thank you for taking up the Zero Waste Plan, a bold plan to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost as much as possible. The life cycle assessment produced for the plan is eye-opening, and shows that burning our trash in the City of Chester is 2.3 times more harmful for our health and environment than simply burying it in the landfill where the incinerator's ash currently goes.
Given this, the Plan's goal to end the county's use of incineration is most appreciated, especially in light of the environmental justice issues in Chester and the fact that the county's landfill in rural Berks County impacts far fewer people.
I urge you to adopt this Plan and support it in the following ways:
1) End Delco's use of incineration ASAP. Since 2023, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (DCSWA) has diverted just 12% of our waste away from incineration, and just 7% in the first half of this year. Our county needs to wind down its use of incineration as much as possible each year and end this practice no later than 2028.
2) Preserve the county's landfill space. Other counties with publicly-owned landfills usually save that public asset for their own use. DCSWA, however, has been selling off our landfill space to other counties and states, mainly filling it with incinerator ash from the burning of trash from Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. Our trash disposal costs will skyrocket by the time that our landfill fills up and we need to pay to use remaining space at private landfills that are further away. Our landfill space will be worth far more than DCSWA is selling it for today. Please find a way to help DCSWA cover their costs without squandering our landfill space for short-term cash.
3) Fund the Zero Waste Plan. The plan needs funding to hire people to implement the recommended programs. Delaware County should prioritize funding the execution of this zero waste plan. Please don't let this great plan gather dust. Since DCSWA just fired their recycling coordinator, and the Office of Sustainability lacks the staff for it, the County needs to step up and find funding to make sure this plan becomes reality.
Sincerely,
[signature block]
Thank you for taking up the Zero Waste Plan, a bold plan to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost as much as possible. The life cycle assessment produced for the plan is eye-opening, and shows that burning our trash in the City of Chester is 2.3 times more harmful for our health and environment than simply burying it in the landfill where the incinerator's ash currently goes.
Given this, the Plan's goal to end the county's use of incineration is most appreciated, especially in light of the environmental justice issues in Chester and the fact that the county's landfill in rural Berks County impacts far fewer people.
I urge you to adopt this Plan and support it in the following ways:
1) End Delco's use of incineration ASAP. Since 2023, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (DCSWA) has diverted just 12% of our waste away from incineration, and just 7% in the first half of this year. Our county needs to wind down its use of incineration as much as possible each year and end this practice no later than 2028.
2) Preserve the county's landfill space. Other counties with publicly-owned landfills usually save that public asset for their own use. DCSWA, however, has been selling off our landfill space to other counties and states, mainly filling it with incinerator ash from the burning of trash from Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. Our trash disposal costs will skyrocket by the time that our landfill fills up and we need to pay to use remaining space at private landfills that are further away. Our landfill space will be worth far more than DCSWA is selling it for today. Please find a way to help DCSWA cover their costs without squandering our landfill space for short-term cash.
3) Fund the Zero Waste Plan. The plan needs funding to hire people to implement the recommended programs. Delaware County should prioritize funding the execution of this zero waste plan. Please don't let this great plan gather dust. Since DCSWA just fired their recycling coordinator, and the Office of Sustainability lacks the staff for it, the County needs to step up and find funding to make sure this plan becomes reality.
Sincerely,
[signature block]