Are garbage incinerators still used? What about their environmental impact?
Theres two trains of thought in the industry. An incinerator is just combustion of waste without energy recovery. A resource recovery facility is combustion of waste with energy, and sometimes metals recovery and other materials recovery. Most of the incinerators in the state, with the exception of medical waste incinerators, are no longer used. The new facilities, although they still use incineration, have new technologies that recover the energy and reduce overall emissions. Theyve significantly reduced their footprint. A resource recovery facility still has an environmental footprintstill generates ash, but doesnt tend to be hazardous. A number of landfills use it as a daily cover. Some of the ashes are used in construction of concrete blocks for retaining walls in the ocean. In the more recent facilities theyre recovering as much of the metals as possible, especially the metals having an economic value. Q: Are disposable diapers a problem now? What part of the country are you in? I
