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David Bergman's avatar

A few years back, I was interviewed for an article on CopenHill inThrillist (https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/copenhill-copenhagen-ski-slope-power-plant). While lauding the fact that it made for unusually interesting municipal design, I also said "One can debate the merits of waste-to-energy. Yes, it makes energy from garbage, but it’s still incinerating it and spewing not-so-great things into the air, even when it’s called clean waste-to-energy. And wouldn’t it be better to not make so much garbage in the first place?”

I've since taken to calling waste-to-energy "waste incineration with a side of energy."

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Stephen  Sheehy's avatar

There is no solution to managing solid waste other than not producing it in the first place. I'm on our little town in Maine's solid waste committee. One fact that surprised me is that close to half of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Maine is demolition and construction waste. Using existing buildings instead of building new can help.

Just composting food waste would also help reduce the quantity of MSW and also save money, since dumping it in landfill or incinerating is priced by the ton and food waste is heavy.

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