Last week I went on a field trip to the Lee County Waste Energy Plant. We were greeted by the plant manager who talked to us about what the plant does, how it operates and its benefits. This energy plant takes all of the garbage from Lee County and burns it for energy. From this garbage, they also extract the metals and sell them at a profit. The plant manager believed that this plant was the solution to our garbage and space problem, aside from being the best thing since sliced bread. His reasoning was that he took something that was taking up valuable space and nobody wanted and turning it into a necessary utility. This plant is also reducing landfill usage by depositing ash rather than the entire product, extending the life of the garbage dump. Through the process of the plant, the rising ash and gases were neutralized for chemicals, making the plant a zero emission operation and lessening the impact on environment.
While I feel that this is a better step than continuing to entomb our garbage, it is not the end solution to our problem. The resulting ash, while being less dangerous after the treatment, still contains dense metals that are not removed, and the heavy ash that doesn't rise is untreated, leaving room for contamination risk. This metal laden ash is buried in the ground at the dump. While it does take up less room, the ash then makes the metals and other negative elements more concentrated when it is buried in the soil. Eventually, I fear that this concentrated source will contaminate the soil thoroughly and possibly affect the nearby water table.
I also feel that there is a conflict of interest in the plant. While there is a recycling plant at the complex, this only handles what is sorted at the consumers homes in the bins and not what comes in on the garbage trucks. Since his business is built on burning material, there is no drive or interest in sorting out the recyclable materials from the garbage because it would decrease his quantity of material to burn. He is already burning organic, plant waste instead of composting it which goes to show where his preferences are at. During our visit, the plant manager was lamenting the decrease in garbage his trucks were bringing in, due to the recession and the end of season. It seemed that as he was talking to us, he almost wanted to encourage us to become greater consumers, generating more garbage so he would have more to burn and more money to make, contrary to being environmental and sustainable.
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