Regulation of municipal incinerator ash: City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund, Inc.
Waste disposal creates a serious problem for American cities. American households annually create over 160 million tons of municipal solid waste. As a result of diminishing landfill space and increasing waste generation, landfilling, once the principal method of solid waste disposal, ceases to be a feasible solution. This crisis has forced many municipalities to search for viable alternatives such as source reduction, recycling, and incineration. An increasing number of municipalities have turned to waste-to-energy incinerators as a solution to the waste disposal problem. In 1992, approximately 125 incinerators burned 34 million tons of municipal trash, an amount that equals about 17 percent of the nation`s annual output of solid waste. Incineration reduces the volume of the municipal solid waste by 90 percent. The ten percent remainder of ash must otherwise be disposed. In addition to reducing the needed landfill space, the incineration process also produces steam or electrical energy.
- OSTI ID:
- 458695
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Natural Resources amp Environmental Law, Journal Name: Journal of Natural Resources amp Environmental Law Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 10; ISSN XZ489S
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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