I didn't even know about incinerating until I did research on recycling. Now, maybe I'm just naive, but it seems like a fairly unpopular method of disposal. I had heard of burning trash before, but not in a good light. However, I read in America's Environmental Report Card that when done correctly, incineration at high temperatures and with energy recovery could be even more environmentally friendly than recycling. But on the other hand, most incinerators are reportedly not following optimum procedures and are thus emitting harmful gases into the atmosphere. So here is the issue: there's recycling, which is very popular and effective but is by choice and so only about one-third of garbage is recycled. Then there's incinerators that reduce waste volume by 90%, but many communities are unwilling to install them due to high costs, and even if they are built, they have to be run in a very specific way to ensure environmentally friendliness. So what's the answer? I don't think I know even what I think as of yet. I love the idea of recycling, but if America can figure out a good way to start up a fleet of clean incinerators, that would be even more ideal. For now though, I am still happy with recycling and recognize the difficulty of making ideal incineration come true.
