6 Dec 2021

Baltimore Youth Organizer Carlos Sanchez Points Out Pitfalls of City Council Plan

by | Date: 6 Dec 2021 | posted in: waste - anti-incineration, waste - recycling, waste - zero waste, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Carlos Sanchez, a Baltimore high-school student and youth organizer for Free Your Voice and Fair Development Land Trust, responded to the announcement of a new Zero Waste Commission for the City with a thought-provoking op/ed in Baltimore Brew. He notes that a plan already developed by the community – with ambitious goals and revenue sources – will do more to end health-harming air pollution than the entity the City Council is proposing.… Read More
1 Jun 2017

How Baltimore can kick the landfill, littering and incinerating habit

by | Date: 1 Jun 2017 | posted in: Media Coverage, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Strewn in streets and alleys. Dumped in a landfill. Burned in an incinerator and, ultimately, inhaled by residents.

About 20% of Baltimore’s residential trash is recycled. That’s extremely low compared to the 35% national average for cities. Some jurisdictions have achieved 50% and 60%. West Coast cities including Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles have reached even higher levels.

In Charm City, what doesn’t get recycled ends up in some not-too-charming places, including the aging Wheelabrator Baltimore waste-to-energy incinerator, locally known as BRESCO.

But a decision point is looming: the city’s contract to send trash to BRESCO is set to expire in four years. Continuing to use the incinerator means expanding the Quarantine Road Landfill, which is approaching capacity and accepts the incinerator’s ash, as well as residents’ solid waste.… Read More