Re: [greenyes] Waste-to-Energy

[Minimushomines@no.address]

Sharon, 
Your situation offers a choice between two evils, landfill or WTE. I would 
chose landfill. Landfills offer greater opportunity for redemption. A landfill 
can be flexible, allowing a community to gradually wean itself from its use 
while shifting from a waste management to a resource management program. A 
community that implements Maximized zero waste type programs, you know, reuse, 
recycling, composting, waste reduction, ZERI, producer responsibility, in its 
residential and business sectors and pretreats what continues to go to the 
landfill, as in Halifax, could realize a substantial reduction in wasting, 
landfilling, anaerobic gasses and odor. 

On the other hand what can one do with an incinerator? Once a community makes 
even a venial commitment to an incinerator, a mortal offense against nature 
and health if you believe the reports that attribute ill health to incinerator 
byproducts, and I do, your stuck. A community is stuck feeding and paying for 
a WTE for up to thirty years. What happens when the ZW programs mentioned 
above succeed?

Flexibility, in a time of change that's the bottom line. Landfill wins over 
wte.

Sharon I notice your a Recycling Specialist and like myself a personally 
committed Zero Waster. To what extent have you been able to implement effective 
residential and/or commercial recycling in the City of Long Beach? Organics 
composting? Is your local government enthusiastic and supportive? Do they let you 
bring in ZW consultants to help you work out the details of the discarded 
resource management programs you want to implement? I'm in Florida but have been 
out to California and am aware of some of the great people resources you have 
there. Are you involved in diversion program development or does you "team 
leader" take care of that? 

Thanks for posting this issue. Why were you hesitant to do so? I've read the 
responses with great interest. I'm glad to see the basic issue back on the 
table. The wte industry is on the move.

Gently,
Bob Krasowski
The Zero Waste Collier County Group
1086 Michigan Ave.
Naples, Florida
239-434-0786