Covanta's Mid-Conn incinerator in Hartford Connecticut burns 2,000 tons of trash per day.
© Roger Smith/Clean Water Action

Take action now to keep the ban on trash incineration intact and keep Rhode Island's recycling plans moving forward.

For 16 years Rhode Island has banned trash incineration because it's dirty, dangerous, and it burns resources that we can recycle.

Now, out-of-state energy giant Covanta is spending thousands of dollars a month to convince our elected officials to take a giant step backward and undo the incinerator ban.

Over the last several years, several companies have proposed legislation to get around Rhode Island's incinerator ban. At every turn, the legislature rejected those plans.

Covanta's "trash to energy" proposal is just the latest of these incineration schemes. By burning material that could be recycled, it would stop the significant progress Rhode Island's cities and towns are making on developing recycling programs.

To make matters worse, Covanta's plan would give trash incineration extra financial benefits by defining it as renewable energy. That would undermine the progress the state has made over the last decade in promoting real clean, renewable energy projects. When Connecticut changed their renewable energy standard to include dirty technologies, their market for renewable energy credits dropped precipitously and is now considered unreliable.

Don't let Rhode Island make the same mistake.

Take Action

E-mail your state representative, state senator and Gov. Carcieri and urge them to stand up to Covanta, keep the ban on trash incineration intact and keep Rhode Island's recycling plans moving forward.