MinnPost – August 1, 2016
The HERC garbage incinerator is not the best solution to Hennepin County’s trash problem — far from it. While the county is doing well at 46 percent recycling, composting and reuse, it is far from the best practices in cities and counties across the country that have moved to 70 percent plus diversion through recycling, composting and reuse.
For the remaining waste, Commissioner Higgins suggests that the county burn the residue as an alternative to landfilling. Yet every incinerator needs landfills for toxic ash and bypass waste. Approximately 20-30 percent of garbage going into an incinerator must be landfilled.
Read the full op-ed here from ILSR’s Neil Seldman and John Farrell.
