The Miami-Dade County incinerator burned down in 2023. Since then, there has been a push to replace the incinerator with a new one. So far, few communities have expressed a wish to host it’s replacement. They are concerned about the public health effects of an incinerator in their community, especially on schools.

The argument is that Miami-Dade County does not have enough landfill capacity to handle our stream of solid waste, and that we must therefore burn part of it. If we burn part of our waste, the argument goes, we can generate electricity for the community.

But burning waste generates toxic ash and emits greenhouse gases. And a contract for a new incinerator would tie the county into a contract to divert a certain minimum amount of waste for burning