Wake up, Philly – we can’t breathe money.
Philadelphia sends about 40% of its trash to be burned in Chester, at Reworld’s Tratr — the largest trash incinerator in the United States.
That arrangement might soon change.
The city’s current waste disposal contracts expire June 30, 2026, which means Philadelphia will soon decide where its trash goes next. For many residents and environmental advocates, the issue is more than logistical. It brings up the question of moral responsibility.
Why are we sending so much of our trash to be burned in one of the poorest cities in the region? And is there a better way?
Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier certainly thinks so. Her proposed “Stop Trashing Our Air Act” would prevent the city from signing future waste disposal contracts with incineration companies like Reworld. She made her case at City Hall in early March.
“Yesterday, the Health Department issued an air quality warning after a trash fire at a Southwest Philadelphia transfer station,” she said. “It was a frightening moment for nearby residents — a reminder of how quickly burning waste creates toxic air and threatens our health.”
View this post on Instagram
For residents of Chester, that danger isn’t occasional. It’s their everyday reality. And now the clock is ticking for all of us.
Philadelphia ships hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage to Chester every year, to be burned into our atmosphere. If the city renews its current disposal contracts without changing course, both communities could be locked into another seven years of toxic air and ash.
Gauthier hoped to move the bill forward earlier this year, but Mayor Cherelle Parker urged City Council to slow things down and study the issue further.
Really? Seems Philadelphia already settled this more than 30 years ago, when the city banned trash incinerators here because of the pollution they produce.
More recently, a study commissioned by Delaware County Council found that burning trash — burying the toxic ash it leaves behind— can be 23 times worse than sending waste straight to a landfill in the first place. And it’s not like air respects municipal boundaries.
When trash burns in Chester, the smoke doesn’t stop at the city line. It drifts across neighborhoods, schools, and playgrounds all over the Delaware Valley. And in Philadelphia, where one in five children has asthma, the consequences are already clear.
There are practical reasons to rethink the system, too. Alternatives to incineration create more jobs. Landfilling and waste processing generate about 83% more jobs for the same amount of trash, many of them family-sustaining union positions. Philadelphia already sends most of its waste to landfills anyway. The infrastructure is there.
The real question now is whether the city is willing to use it.
Money Changes Everything
For Gauthier, the Stop Trashing Our Air Act is an important step toward fairness and regional responsibility. But it’s not the only way forward. Mayor Parker could simply reject bids from incinerator companies when the city chooses its next waste contracts. She campaigned on a promise to build a safer, cleaner, and greener Philly, after all.
“I think Mayor Parker would agree this should not come at the cost of making Chester sicker, dirtier and less safe,” said Gauthier. “Because that’s not brotherly love.” It is, however, politics as usual.
As Reworld entered the last year of its city contract, the company stepped up lobbying efforts, dropping about $113,000 in 2025, including $45,000 lobbying City Council members and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration after Gauthier’s bill was introduced in September. Its PAC also chipped in $3,700 to Parker’s campaign in December.
Meanwhile, residents of Chester, a majority-Black city that has struggled with poverty and financial crisis for decades, have far fewer resources to make their voices heard. Environmental justice advocates say the imbalance raises a simple question: who gets a say in where Philadelphia’s trash goes next?
It’s a reminder that pollution isn’t the only thing at stake.
“Polluters don’t just pollute our air,” one advocate put it. “They pollute our politics too.”
Take Action
Philadelphia’s trash contracts expire June 30, which means the city is about to decide where all that garbage goes. Got thoughts? Reach out to City Council members via phlcouncil.com. For updates, follow Chester Environmental Movement at @Chester_EJ and Jamie Gauthier at @CouncilmemberJG
What do you think? Click the links for more info, and please leave your questions and comments below.
Be the first to comment