Currently, Canada uses waste-to-energy to deal with about three percent of its municipal solid waste. Cheap hydroelectric power and vast areas available for landfilling have limited the ambition in building new WTE facilities in that country. A marred public image of incineration is also an issue, as old incinerators were extremely polluting.
The Canadians have a high carbon footprint, despite their high use of hydroelectric energy. Waste-to-energy may just part of the answer to that problem. Instead of shipping waste to landfills in the U.S. and elsewhere, burn it at plants in the cities and put every last joule to work, making both electricity and district heating hot water.
Not to say that the U.S. can't improve...
