Philly still sends about a third of its garbage to the Reworld incinerator in Chester, Pennsylvania, which is the largest trash incinerator in the United States and the region’s top industrial polluter.
The incinerator’s effects have been linked to higher childhood asthma rates and cancer-causing particulates in the air.
That’s why councilmember Jaime Gauthier wants to stop burning Philly’s trash. The effects of the incinerator not only harm Chester’s majority Black population, but Philadelphia too, she says.
Gauthier spoke to Hall Monitor co-host Larry McGlynn on our Nov. 12, 2025 livestream. Catch our livestream every Wednesday at 6pm EST on our YouTube channel.
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