Ruiz Karla

San Diego Unified School District

3/13/2017
 People in our society think its a good cause

O
but its still a
ver the years the topic garbage

to energy has been a problem,

but what they don't have in mind or see is

that when they want the trash converted into

energy yes it does help some people

because lots of houses can get energy

problem and it has
from the trash that is getting thrown out
started to get
but also the process the garbage goes
worse because
through is harmful to the world. For
every day 19,176
Figure 1 Figure 1 thumbnail of how the world is
example the garbage to become
looking and how it can get worse every day May
tons is thrown out 20, 2014 goo.gl/mC5pJC
energy it has to be broken down
per day. But, many people have different
into really small pieces and for that the
opinions some people think its a good idea
incinerators and the waste generators play a
to convert garbage into energy and others
big role. But some energy companies are
dont. Theres machines like incinerator and
developing new ways to recycle the waste
waste generators that help breakdown the
by generating electricity from landfill waste
trash into smaller pieces and their machines
and pollution. The amount of garbage
help breakdown the garbage people throw
produced by the worlds urban dwellers is
out.
growing at an astonishing clip. The World
The Problem

Garbage to energy can cause a lot of

problems to the world. But the people

around us dont know the damage its

causing to turning garbage into energy.

1|Page
Bank has estimated that countries are
generating 1.4 billion tons of municipal
Figure 3 This image above show the cycle of WTE
solid waste each year and forecasts that this
number will double by 2025. (Nickolas J.
Themelis). Nickolas has a great concern on
the issue because as time goes by the
problem becomes bigger each time as he
mentioned that countries are
generating more and more
waste each time. I think it
has really become a problem
and a concern for some
Figure 2 This is a diagram showing how its more preferred
people but many people want and less preferred to do the process
to help and reduce some of the stuff they
throw out in some perspective they think
using less of the material can bring the
garbage down. Therefore, informing the
community around is really important so
they know what is happening and how its
an issue and what the solution can be.
Issue & Why its controversial
This issue is a big controversy
because not everyone notices the harm
they're doing to the world for example only
one of the waste is recycled and the rest is
sent to landfills. For Example, Paul Gilman,
a senior vice president with Covanta argues,
a ton of trash processed at a Covanta
facility offsets a ton of greenhouse gas
emissions, however, environmentalists
counter that trash-
burning power
plants emit
pollutants such as
mercury and lead,
endangering those
in the neighborhoods around them. What he
said is actually true because converting the
garbage into energy its going to get the
garbage away but it also with cause damage
2|Page

the world in many ways because the because there has always been trash around

machines they use they have to use us and its always going to be a problem but

chemicals to break down the trash and there is solutions and the people around us

eventually can help us change the problem.

One of the waste is
the trash Current state of the issue
recycled and the rest is sent
turns into
The current issue of this problem
to landfills.
smaller particles. For some people its
right now is that its still a problem and over
something good because it going to give
the years it has become bigger of an issue. It
light to a lot of houses but also it causes lots
has become a problem because not ever state
of damage and it affect the community so
has the same resources. The people who
theres pros and cons to the situations.
burn down the garbage to make it into

History of the issue energy have been doing this since the

The history of the garbage to energy 1800s. For example, the state of Virginia is

goes back to the 1980 in the 1980 was when giving lots of houses energy but the problem

groundwater contamination from landfills keeps going because the waste isnt going to

started to increases and the first landfill and go away. Since the problem has always been

incinerators were designed for the purpose the waste and what people think is that they

and the first just throw it and its gone. This problem

incinerator as causes a devastating impact on the

built in 1903 in ecosystem and everywhere throughout the

Frederiksberg. world. Some energy companies are

This has been Figure 4 This is an image of the developing new ways to recycle waste by
incinerator that was built in
Frederiksberg in 1903 and this is how it
in issue looks.
3|Page

generating electricity from landfills waste energy. He says the facility is owned and

and pollution. operated by Covanta Energy Corp., one of

The Viewpoints the leaders in converting solid waste into

energy, with 41 plants in North America. On

Theres different viewpoint to the
average, the company produces 550 to 750
issue most of the viewpoints are negative to
kilowatt-hours of electricity
the issue for
per ton of waste, said Chief
example he says it
Sustainability Officer Paul
causes
Gilman. While the power
Greenhouse
comes from burning garbage,
emission and
there's a big difference
Environmentalist Figure 5 This image is a picture of what Greenhouse
emission is
between a traditional
encounter trash
incinerator and what Covanta does, he said -
burning Damages the community Paul
- "we're a power plant."
Gilman, a senior vice president with

Covanta argues, a ton of trash processed at

Personal Viewpoint
a Covanta facility offsets a ton of
My personal view point of the issue
greenhouse gas emissions, however,
is that In my opinion I find this issue a bog
environmentalists counter that trash-burning
problem because some of the stuff we
power plants emit pollutants such as
consider garbage isnt really garbage and
mercury and lead, endangering those in the
you can reuse it and that going to help a lot
neighborhoods around them. The second
if we let the community and pepole around
viewpoint says Lots of energy is being used
us about the problem because many pepole
and the garbage is getting burned to become
4|Page

in our society dont really realize its

affecting the world until someone speaks

about it and sometimes the people out in the

community dont know if what theyre

doing is right and they want to help the

community to be clean but what there

causing the world to do is become worst

with everything that is being done with the

incinerators and the waste generators. But, I

think if we had a change to talk to the pepole

around us it will really make a change and

little by little we can make the world around

us better and clean it little by little but might

take time to help out the planet since it has

been a problem for over a decade but

something can still be done to help. But, also

we can balance out the pros and cons to the

situation and then after talking to the people

around us because for some people it can be

dangerous. But overall if the people decide

to help or not its going to help a lot to the

environment.
5|Page

References

Arrandale, T. (1993, Feb). Waste-to-energy:

Promises and problems. Governing, , 51+.

Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com

Griffin, R. D. (1992, Mar). Garbage crisis.

CQ Researcher, , 243+. Retrieved

from

http://sks.sirs.com

Tierney, J. (1996, Jun). Recycling is

garbage. New York Times Magazine, , 24+.

Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com

Wiliams, T. (2015, 11 Jan). Garbage

incinerators make comeback, kindling both

garbage and debate. New York Times

Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com