# Montgomery County's trash problem has no good answer

> A packed town hall, a Thanksgiving deadline, and two waste options nobody in the room seemed to want.
- Title: Montgomery County's trash problem has no good answer
- Summary: A packed town hall, a Thanksgiving deadline, and two waste options nobody in the room seemed to want. The county has to pick between a 30-year-old…
- Keywords: waste, local government, environment, montgomery county, incinerator, news, local, Montgomery, County's, trash, problem, good
- Source: The Banner — https://thebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/incinerator-montgomery-county-closure-HZARMC3DWFFMPJXB3SUMNDLE7Q
- Author: Ginny Bixby
- Published: 2026-09-03T02:33:53.111+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: waste, local government, environment, montgomery county, incinerator, news, local
## A deadline before Thanksgiving
Council President Natali Fani-González wants the council to settle the incinerator's future by Thanksgiving, before a new council is sworn in come December.
## Why the rush
Council member Sidney Katz says punting means the next council restarts the debate while juggling a new budget. The current body wants it done.

> If we don't do it this council, then it gets dragged on for the next council.
## Option one, sort it
Close the incinerator and run trash through an advanced processing system that splits it into recyclables, compostables and landfill waste.
## Option two, rebuild it
Upgrade the Dickerson incinerator, which is past 30 years old and has collected toxic emissions violations that environmentalists have flagged for years.
## The ash goes to Virginia
Incinerator ash currently lands in a poor, majority-Black neighborhood in Henrico County. Officials say they are hunting for a site in a less marginalized community.
## Both cost more
County environmental officials told the crowd the two paths carry similar, higher price tags. Sorting would be slightly better for the environment.
## Residents wanted a third door
Neighbors near the Shady Grove transfer station described odors, smells and truck traffic already, and worried closing the incinerator sends more trucks their way.

> What is Path C?
## What happens after this
Feedback shapes formal proposals headed for public hearings. County Executive Marc Elrich campaigned on closing it, and the Reworld operating contract runs to 2031.
## Key takeaway

The county has to pick between a 30-year-old incinerator and trucking sorted trash to a landfill, and both cost more than what it does now.