Working Together to Benefit the Chester Community
Covanta has been actively involved in the community since coming to Chester in 2005. We fund college scholarships for local students and an annual school trip to Washington, DC, and support the Save Your Soles diabetes screening campaign.
We are proud to work with local citizens and organizations to help clean-up efforts around the city. These projects have continued even during the pandemic.
Drawing inspiration from our work with the Chester Environmental Partnership, we developed an Environmental Justice policy that guides our actions in Chester—and worldwide.
Learn more about our community activities
The Additional Benefits of Waste-to-Energy
Besides sustainable waste management, Waste-to-Energy facilities offer many other benefits to the communities where they are located. In Indianapolis, for example, steam from a Waste-to-Energy facility provides central heating to the city's entire downtown loop—over 250 downtown buildings.
The incinerator in Minneapolis heats and electrifies Target Field (home of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball) as well as the Target Field Station stop on the city's Metro light rail, which safely transports more than one hundred thousand fans to Twins home games each year.
In Niagara Falls, NY, the Waste-to-Energy facility serves as the hub for local industrial development, providing steam power to nearby manufacturers, as well as sustainable waste services.
The facility in Hempstead, NY, has supported local development of another type, providing its new high-end condominium neighbors located just across the street with the same essential and sustainable waste disposal services enjoyed by the majority of Long Island.
Waste-to-Energy facilities also offer significant financial benefits to their host communities. They are a top contributor to municipal budgets, paying host fees in addition to property taxes, which are often used to fund local and regional recycling programs. Facilities also create good-paying jobs and a great deal of economic activity for local restaurants, stores and other businesses. In fact, the Waste-to-Energy incinerator in Chester generates an estimated $80 million annually for the local economy.
Visit the facility page to learn more
