Don’t burn the mountains of trash, say opponents of a $320 million waste-to-energy incinerator that would be shared by Carroll and Frederick counties.

Recycle more before even considering the incinerator, say critics in Carroll.

“Everything I’ve read is that greenhouse gases would be increased,” said Gregor Becker, a member of the Sierra Club Catoctin Group.

“What we’re seeking is an increase in recycling and reuse before they consider incineration because, in almost every case where you have an incinerator, recycling rates don’t go up, because you need to feed the incinerator.”

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Becker said the Sierra Club helped devise a “Cool Counties” declaration for Carroll, which pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, but also aims to promote waste-to-energy programs.

Carroll, along with thousands of other counties in the country, signed it, but Becker said the Sierra Club has since gone against promoting waste-to-energy.

“The national Sierra Club stance, as I understand it, has been revised on that,” Becker said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Carroll commissioners recently voted to pay for a new, full-time recycling coordinator for the county.

The coordinator is charged with improving the county’s 27 percent recycling rate, among the lowest in the state, before the position’s salary is officially funded in the 2009 budget.

Anthony Margiotta, of Sykesville, said he’d been stationed with the U.S. Army in European countries that combined recycling and waste-to-energy to significantly reduce landfill waste.

“Recycling has got to be part of the plan,” he told commissioners.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com