In November 2015, some Lexington parents took a field trip** with a gaggle of elementary school aged children. The administration of Wheelabrator was extraordinarily gracious and gave us a comprehensive tour. We were all outfitted in safety helmets, and the children were already dressed in full coverage clothing as a precaution.
First was a presentation on how the incinerator works*** (trash hauled in via trucks, deposited in a cavernous chamber, pushed under huge claws to feed the maw, then burnt at high temperature, building steam in pipes, which generated electricity, which powered 30,000 homes, which resulted in minuscule parts per million gaseous effluent, and a grey residue of mixed metals and incombustible materials, deposited in a landfill, post some viable metals extraction.)
Then the tour began – the children saw where the trash was brought in from nearby municipalities then moved in position. Then they clanged along flights of metal staircases and corridors, to a control room where they were suitably impressed by all the dials monitoring temperatures, electricity output, etc. Then to the highlight (for the kids): the operators’ room, where a technician showed how he controlled the Claw (Toy Story 2, the Claw was very much on their mind) which transported the trash to the combustion chamber. A small window covered by a movable metal plate and an extraordinarily thick glass plate gave the kids a quick glimpse into the chamber. Needless to say the field trip was very successful in educating all about the end points of trash generated in our leafy towns.
Some notable points:
- Apparently most trash has some calorific value, i.e. can be burnt to produce heat.
- But trash also has arsenic, cadmium, lead and other nasty stuff as the signs warned us
- At the end of the trip I could still smell a distinctive metallic odor from our clothing. I also remember an ash like coating on some of the surfaces
- The Burlington Mall trash, which often contained brand new merchandise because of inventory turnover, would also be burnt. Earlier Wheelabrator staff would rescue a stroller or a crib for their own personal use but that practice was stopped after the stores complained.
- We also took the children to MGH on a similar field trip to understand medical waste disposal. Waste was compacted, documents shredded, some waste sterilized in a giant autoclave. Geiger counters and loaders all were part of the equipment used to manage the byproducts of a busy hospital. Then it was sent away out west, somewhere, via trains.
Net, net there is no magic wand solution to trash. Even a well-designed, well-functioning incinerator has output which can have some negative economic and ecological cost. It’s been 11 years since our field trip, the costs continue to go up, and what we took for granted is turning into material cost factors for consideration. And the incinerator will close down in a few years.
Meanwhile, in my recent visit to a part of rural India, I saw troops of Rhesus Macaque monkeys foraging in a garbage patch, amongst green fields which stretched in each direction.
I believe there is a Nobel Peace Prize awaiting the person(s) who figures out an inexpensive hyper-local, mobile, high input, safe, low energy-ecological-economic cost, waste incinerator solution for the world. The magic wand.
Till then lets compost, consume less, and give the Select Board flexibility in managing the complex trash constraints, because those are hard to control.
Best
Deepika Sawhney
(Precinct 6 TMM)
Resources
* Pictures of Field trip to North Andover Incinerator
** FIRST organizes an annual global competition that uses project based learning to teach children research skills, team work, and robotics. Parents act as mentors and coaches. The field trips were organized for FIRST Lego League’s annual competition (themed Trash Trek in 2015; ‘Don’t touch anything’ was the mantra on our field trips.
Additional details: https://media.fllcasts.com/assets/resources/FLL2015/TRASH-TREK-Challenge.pdf
*** Waste to energy : the functioning of incinerators
Waste-to-Energy: proces explanation (2007)
Misc:
2015 NYT article on the fallacies of recycling