Philadelphia last week took a step toward renewing its contract with a controversial Chester trash incinerator after a high-profile bill to ban the city from doing so failed to garner enough support in City Council.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administrationissued a notice on Friday that it intends to enter into a new four-year contract for waste processing and disposal with Reworld, which operates a waste-to-energy facility in Chester. The city sends about a third of its garbage to the incinerator, the Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility.
Carlton Williams, who leads Parker’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said in a statement that the city’s contracting process resulted in a deal that is “financially sound, environmentally safe, and includes the best option for the city to explore alternative methods for disposal.”
But advocates, local officials in Chester, and some City Council members have accused the company of severe pollution and environmental racism, saying it releases toxic chemicals into the air that cause adverse health effects in the majority-Black city that’s about 15 miles south of Philadelphia.
The amount of money the city intends to pay Reworld was not immediately clear on Monday. Parker administration officials issued a notice that they intend to renew the city’s existing contract with the company, but did not publish the contract itself.
Reworld was one of three companies selected to process and dispose of the city’s waste. The other two, Republic Services and Waste Management, operate landfills.
Council will need to approve legislation to greenlight the new contract with Reworld. The next scheduled meeting is in September.
It’s unclear what fate the bill might meet in Council. Last year, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a Democrat who represents parts of West Philadelphia, introduced the Stop Trashing Our Air act, which would have banned the city from entering into contracts with companies that burn trash or recyclables.
But she never called the bill up for a vote, and ultimately put it on hold after it failed to garner support from a majority of the 17-member body.
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Gauthier said in a statement Monday that dirty air causes asthma and cancer, and that Parker’s administration is “condemning Philly and Chester to at least four more years of toxic air and ash.”
“This is a choice. A choice that breaks Mayor Parker’s own campaign promise,” Gauthier said. “A choice that disproportionately harms Black and brown communities. A choice that makes every Philadelphian and Chester resident sicker.”
The incinerator became something of a flashpoint when Parker ran for mayor in 2023. During a debate, one of her rivals, businessman Jeff Brown, made comments dismissive of complaints about the environmental impact of burning trash in Chester.
Parker, who ran on a platform of making the city “safer, cleaner, and greener” seized on it and told Brown: “That response is the same way you treat the Black and brown community.”
But Parker’s administration opposed Gauthier’s legislation, saying it would hamstring the city from being able to choose the best value waste disposal contractor through its typical competitive bidding process.
That process, city officials said in a news release Friday, included considerations of cost, as well as impacts on transportation in the region and the environment. The administration hired two independent firms to conduct environmental impact analyses.
The city previously held a seven-year contract with Reworld, which expired in June. Parker’s administration extended it for six months, ahead of selecting the company for a four-year renewal with the potential for three additional one-year extensions.