Philadelphia is negotiating a new contract with the waste management company Reworld to handle some of the city’s trash. Questions remain, however, about how much waste would be sent to the company’s incinerator in Chester, Pennsylvania, and whether City Council will approve the agreement. Th e city of Philadelphia collects more than 600,000 tons of trash each year, and deciding where that waste ends up has become the subject of growing debate. While negotiations with Reworld are ongoing, officials have not disclosed the final terms of the proposed contract. Currently, about 40% of Philadelphia’s trash is sent to an incinerator. Sanitation Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman said that percentage could change under a new agreement but declined to provide specifics while negotiations continue. “It very well could be less than 40%,” Shipman said. When asked whether the new contract will reduce the amount of trash sent for incineration, Shipman said she could not say. “I can’t tell you the contract, the spec of the contract, so I don’t want to say yes or no for sure because we’re still in the negotiation process,” she said. For the first time, Philadelphia included environmental factors as part of its bid evaluation process. The city weighted environmental impact at 10%, cost at 30% and transportation impacts at 20%. Asked about the environmental effects of incineration, Shipman said any pollution released into the air is a concern but argued the city must consider the broader waste management system. “Ultimately I look at it as any particulate that is released into the air is a particulate we should be concerned about. However, we look at the system as a whole,” Shipman said. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier opposes a new contract with Reworld and has introduced legislation that would prohibit Philadelphia from sending its trash to incinerators. “There is a cleaner and safer alternative that we can choose today,” Gauthier said. Gauthier said she was “very disappointed and somewhat shocked” that the city chose to continue pursuing the contract. She argued that sending more waste to landfills is a better option than incineration and said City Council should reject the agreement when it comes up for a vote. “It’s up to City Council to do the right thing, and I’m going to be working with my colleagues to vote this contract down and to pass the Stop Trashing Our Air Act,” Gauthier said. City Council will have the final say on whether the negotiated contract moves forward. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less