Learn about incineration and the effort to stop sending trash to the nearby Chester City incinerator in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

In a long, and packed, hearing before Philadelphia City Council’s Environment Committee on Nov. 17, 2025, our Stop Trashing Our Air Act passed out of committee with a powerful 5-1 vote! Thank you to committeemembers Gauthier, Bass, Ahmad, O’Rourke, and Harrity for your support!

The bill, authored in 2021 by Philadelphia resident, Mike Ewall of Energy Justice Network, was introduced this year by City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, chair of the Environment Committee. Following a recent toxic tour of Chester that we led for councilmembers and their staff, councilmembers were quite concerned about the health and environmental racism consequences of where our trash goes.

We’re optimistic about passing this bill in the full city council and welcome your support! Here are ways you can help…

1) Email City Council in support of the bill. We made that super quick and easy here: http://www.phillyzerowaste.org/action

2) Sign your group on in support of the effort (if you represent an organization): https://energyjustice.net/signon

3) Invite us to present to your organization. Contact Mike Ewall at 215-436-9511 or mike@energyjustice.net

4) Learn more in our 4-page Frequently Asked Questions or by checking out any of these documents:

• Our Powerpoint slides
• Demographics of communities where Philly trash goes (hint: incinerators impact far more people, and lower-income people of color)
• Energy Justice Network’s response to the Sanitation Department’s solid waste Request for Information issued in summer 2025. This 35-pager covers how to not keep contracting to burn trash, as well as detailing how incineration is far worse than landfilling, plus Zero Waste solutions.

On Thursday, 9/18/2025, Councilmember Gauthier introduced the bill we wrote to prohibit the city from signing contracts to burn the city’s trash, recyclables, or compostables. If it’s passed before new contracts are signed in Spring 2026, the Stop Trashing Our Air Act will prevent the multi-year new waste contracts from allowing waste to be burned after 7/1/2026. As of this post, the bill has been assigned to the Streets and Services Committee.

The bill only applies to waste that the city manages, which is about half of the city’s trash, collected by the Department of Sanitation from public facilities and residences with up to six units. And unfortunately, apartments with more than six units are considered commercial and have private collection. So currently, 37% of the city’s trash is incinerated, mainly in the City of Chester, which is home to the nation’s largest waste incinerator which is the largest industrial air polluter within the 7-county Philadelphia region. The city’s two waste contracts expire on 6/30/2026 and new contracts are being pursued.

Watch the entire presentation here:

For more information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions and our Philly Zero Waste page. Organizations can sign on in support of the bill here.