The Big Squeeze

摘要

At a time when energy conservation, sustainability and resource recovery are so important and so passionately discussed, it is crucial to recognize and protect the valuable contributions that operators of cement kilns and producers/suppliers of secondary materials make and could make toward achieving US energy independence. This paper will examine how the Hazardous Waste Combustor NESHAP (HWC MACT Rule) and several new 'de-regulatory' RCRA regulations work against these goals and could combine to squeeze the economic viability out of proven recycling and energy recovery technologies, thereby illuminating the inexplicable contrast between the government's rhetoric and its actions with respect to environmental protection and resource conservation.