Recycling groups register opposition to tax breaks for LFG, WTE

WASHINGTON (Sept. 4) -- Supporters of tax incentives for landfill methane gas and waste-to-energy facilities won´t spend all their time lobbying Congress this fall. They also will fend off a frequent ally -- the recycling community.

A loose network of recycling representatives has vowed to fight the tax credits. Reasons vary, but the bottom line is economics.

"The cost-effectiveness of recycling is directly linked to the cost of landfilling and incineration in waste-to-energy facilities," wrote Will Ferretti, executive director of the National Recycling Coalition, in a July 26 letter to the House Ways and Means Committee. "When these forms of disposal are given economic incentives, it hurts recycling."

The NRC is not targeting the specific tax credits, but any subsidy for disposal, Ferretti said.

Bill Sheehan, executive director of the GrassRoots Recycling Network, however, has written letters to Congress directly attacking the subsidies under consideration. "We are inhibiting a new technology by subsidizing an obsolete technology," he said.

Tax incentives proponents said they are surprised by the opposition. "I don´t think it will have any impact on recycling at all," said John Skinner, president and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America. "It´s just paying for recovery of the gas, which wouldn´t occur otherwise."

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