A recent article stated that Maryland must support in-state renewable energy – including waste-to-energy (WTE). This raises significant environmental justice (EJ) concerns that must be addressed. While the pursuit of renewable energy is commendable, categorizing WTE incineration as such overlooks the adverse impacts on vulnerable communities and the environment. WTE incineration facilities emit pollutants such as mercury, lead, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter, which are linked to respiratory issues, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. A study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation highlighted that the Baltimore incinerator causes approximately $55 million in health problems annually, disproportionately affecting nearby residents.
Maryland has witnessed several proposed WTE incinerator projects that were ultimately canceled due to environmental, health, and community concerns. A 1,500-ton-per-day WTE incinerator was proposed in Frederick County. Residents and environmental groups raised concerns about air pollution, public health risks, and financial implications. After a decade-long opposition campaign, the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners canceled the project in November 2014. In the late 2000s, the incinerator industry courted Prince George’s County to build a WTE facility. In August 2016, the County decided to cancel the WTE request after County officials received input from environmental organizations such as Progressive Prince George’s, Greenbelt Climate Action Network and the Prince George’s Sierra Club to not move forward. During Governor O’Malley’s administration (2007–2015), Maryland explored various WTE initiatives, including the incineration of poultry litter. However, these projects faced significant opposition due to environmental, economic, and health concerns, leading to their eventual discontinuation. WTE facilities are often situated in low-income communities of color, exacerbating existing health disparities. In Curtis Bay, South Baltimore, advocates filed a civil rights complaint with the EPA, citing the disproportionate pollution burden from Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO), formerly known as the Wheelabrator. BRESCO’s emissions cost Maryland and neighboring states $55 million in health problems annually, according to a 2017 study. Curtis Bay is also home to the largest medical waste incinerator in the country, operated by Curtis Bay Energy. According to the Energy Justice Network, Curtis Bay Energy burns about 70 tons/day. In 2024, Curtis Bay Energy pleaded guilty to 40 criminal counts after failing to properly dispose of dangerous medical waste. In 2016, the youth-led “Free Your Voice” campaign successfully stopped the construction of the Energy Answers incinerator in Baltimore, Maryland which would have been the country’s largest trash incinerator, by mobilizing students and community members against the project due to health and environmental degradation concerns, ultimately pressuring local institutions to cancel contracts with the company and leading to the project’s cancellation.
According to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project, composting is a viable alternative to incineration. Instead of landfilling organic waste, consumers and municipal governments can use composting to prevent methane from being produced. On a per-ton basis, research has shown that composting in Maryland sustains four times the number of jobs as landfill or incinerator disposal, providing economic benefits. Even more striking, if the estimated 1 million tons of organic materials now disposed in Maryland were instead composted at facilities and the resulting compost used within the state, almost 1,400 new full-time equivalent jobs could potentially be supported, paying wages ranging from $23 million to $57 million. In contrast, when disposed of in the state’s landfills and incinerators, this tonnage only supports 120 to 220 jobs. The South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT) has called on Baltimore City to finance the construction of a composting facility. Current composting efforts on a more local scale are observed in Baltimore. Marvin Hayes, Executive Director of the youth-empowered collective, Black-owned Baltimore Compost Collective, aims to promote green job opportunities to the city’s youth and expand his composting system. Baltimore’s Food Scrap Drop-Off Program is another citywide initiative, part of Baltimore’s Zero Waste Plan, in which the city has established multiple drop-off sites where residents can bring food scraps and compostable materials. These locations are often at farmers’ markets, city parks, and municipal collection
sites. The collected food scraps from these Baltimore-based programs are processed by local composting facilities and urban farms, where they are turned into nutrient-rich compost used for community gardens, urban farms, and soil restoration projects.
Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) program was established in 2004, mandating that electricity suppliers procure a certain percentage of their retail electricity sales from renewable sources, classified within the RPS Statute as Tier 1 and Tier 2, fostering environmental benefits and supporting the growth of clean energy industries. In 2011 then Governor O’Malley signed a law promoting energy from WTE incinerators from Tier 2 to Tier 1 status. This promotion made WTE more competitive with wind and solar energy. Between 2012 and 2022, Maryland energy providers spent about $100 million subsidizing dirty energy from trash incinerators through Maryland’s RPS. Recognizing these issues, Maryland lawmakers, including Senate President Bill Ferguson, are advocating to remove incineration from the state’s RPS program, redirecting support to truly clean energy sources like wind and solar. The 2025 Reclaim Renewable Energy Act, or HB220, would instead prioritize energy that comes from a Tier 1 renewable source, including solar, wind and geothermal energy. Additionally, the 2025 Cumulative Harms to Environmental Restoration for Improving Shared Health (CHERISH Our Communities) bill would utilize the Maryland EJSCREEN tool to influence permit decision-making and give community members a say in land-use policies that impact their health and quality of life, further emphasizing the stance against WTE as an immediate solution to renewable energy in historically marginalized communities. Similar bills to remove WTE from Tier 1 have been proposed in recent years but have failed to pass: 2023 HB 166 and 2024 HB 718.
In conclusion, supporting WTE incineration as renewable energy will perpetuate environmental and energy injustice, and increase health risks in marginalized communities. The state of Maryland should focus on sustainable waste management practices, such as large scale composting, and invest in clean energy infrastructure to promote equity, environmental health, and economic opportunity for all Marylanders.
