York

Covanta

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Reducing Landfill Waste

Located in York, Pennsylvania, the York County Resource Recovery Center is an award-winning Waste-to-Energy Facility. The Facility is owned by the York County Solid Waste and Refuse Authority and serves the nearly 400,000 residents of York County with reliable and sustainable waste management.

In addition to keeping waste out of landfills, we’re committed to ensuring safe operations and minimizing environmental impacts. We have been consistently recognized for exceptional operations, including OSHA’s stringent Voluntary Protection Program Star certification.

Fast Stats: Annual Performance

Every year, our facility processes more than 440,000 tons of waste that would otherwise have ended up in landfills.

Less waste in landfills reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 356,400 tons of CO₂. That’s like taking 69,000 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

We use waste to produce 40 megawatts of electricity 24/7 - enough to power 16,000 homes for a year.

Superior Environmental Performance

We care about our communities and operate well below emissions limits. Over 99.9 percent of what comes out of our plant’s stack is what you’d typically find in air - water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. The remaining constituents are well below federal and state standards.

Covanta York Emissions Table

For more information on facility performance click here.

Process in Action

Waste-to-Energy: How Does It Work?

Waste-to-Energy takes non-hazardous waste - otherwise destined for landfill - and combusts it to generate steam for electricity generation. Ash is processed to recover metal for recycling while all gases are collected, filtered and cleaned before being released safely into the atmosphere.

Watch the process in action