This report documents what decision makers and the public need to know about the options for managing our discarded materials. A recent series of reports prepared by HDR Consultants, as well as a draft of the county’s Ten-Year Solid Waste Management Plan currently under review, neglect to examine the full negative impacts of continuing to use the county’s trash incinerator. Nor did either provide a robust visionary analysis of all the potential solutions existing today for the county to pursue. This report provides detailed analysis of the negative impacts of incineration to lay bare the reasons why we must stop using this method of waste management and how to pivot to more sustainable solutions.
Read MoreThe Sugarloaf Citizen’s Association (SCA) engaged the Institute of Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) to determine how economically feasible it is for Montgomery County to transition to a Zero Waste system as the county considers ending the use of the Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (MCRRF) municipal solid waste incinerator by April 1, 2021 when the contract with the facility expires.
Read MoreThe 22-year old Montgomery County trash incinerator is the largest polluter in the County – more than the coal-fired power plant. The incinerator burns an average of about 570,000 tons of trash per year, turning it into 390,000 tons of air pollution and 180,000 tons of toxic ash that is dumped in Virginia landfills.
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The Sugarloaf Citizen’s Association (SCA) engaged the Institute of Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) to determine how economically feasible it is for Montgomery County to transition to a Zero Waste system as the county considers ending the use of the Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (MCRRF) municipal solid waste incinerator by April 1, 2021 when the contract with the facility expires.
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