The plant looks like many other industrial sites in the St. Louis area. Stacked pallets fill gray metal warehouses, walkways and pipes connect several smaller buildings, and multiple tanks and exhaust towers punctuate the skyline.
But this site is different. It’s not designed to manufacture products. Instead, its sole purpose is to destroy unwanted byproducts by vaporizing them at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
A group of Greenville University biology students took it all in one day last fall. They had been studying environmental issues in Professor Eric Nord’s Environmental Science class (Biology 108), and touring this plant gave them a decidedly beyond-the-textbook education.
Incinerator plant becomes classroom
Their classroom on that day was the Veolia Environmental Services plant. Located in Sauget, Ill., just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, it is one of 15 incinerator sites in the nation that is certified to dispose of hazardous wastes that are too dangerous to simply bury in a landfill or send down a drain.
“Incinerating hazardous wastes at very high temperatures is one of the best ways to get rid of them,” said Shontez Jones, a 2002 biology graduate of Greenville University (shown above leading the tour). Jones now serves as the health and safety manager at the incineration facility operated by Veolia, an international company, headquartered in Paris, France, with U.S. corporate offices in Boston and Houston. “Through incineration, we can remove the hazardous properties from wastes that, in their original form, can’t be sent to a landfill. We offer a solution to the hazardous wastes that companies have created.”
That process, Jones said, results in the destruction of 99.99% of the hazardous constituents of the waste materials. The process eliminates liquids entirely and leaves behind a residue of only 5% of the solid materials burned in the incinerator.
To neutralize any noxious gases resulting from the incineration process, Jones said that the exhaust from the incinerator is run through a lime slurry and carbon filters.
“It’s a very tightly controlled and monitored operation,” Jones said. “The incinerators must be operated at the right temperature, so the materials are completely incinerated. What goes out as exhaust is very clean.”
Jones knew his alma mater has several biology classes that deal with environmental issues, so he extended an invitation to Professor Nord for a class to tour the Veolia facility. The tour fit perfectly with the curriculum of the Environmental Science class. GU’s Experience Institute covered the cost of transporting students to the Sauget facility.
Connecting choices and consequences
“In environmental science, we are aiming to connect the students with the consequences of the choices they make and the waste they generate, both directly and indirectly,” said Nord (pictured above). “Going to a place like Veolia is often a total eye-opener for them. I asked them to think about the products they buy that would be sent to a facility like this. There is a stewardship aspect in this area, and many students saw that connection.
“To be a responsible member of society, you have to understand how things work, and that applies to how we handle waste products,” Nord added. “Everything goes somewhere; there is no ‘away.’ We can’t just throw something away and think we’ve done our part.”
In the future, Nord plans to take students on other environment-related tours to landfills, wastewater treatment plants, water treatment plants, and other facilities. Those tours, he said, fit well with the hands-on emphasis of many of his biology classes.
“Almost all of our courses have labs and a strong experiential focus,” Nord said. “I try to build into each class a sense of our connection to the world. As a society, we’re so deep into a consumer mindset that it’s hard for the students to imagine anything else. This experience prompted them to reconsider some of their purchases and practices.”
Students reflect – a critical element of experiential learning
Following the tour (pictured above), Nord asked students to respond to several questions about what they learned from touring the Veolia facility. Following are anonymous excerpts from those student responses.
Should Christians have concerns about a facility such as this?
“I think they would support it, because they are protecting God’s creation by taking these precautions to prevent hazardous waste from being disposed of into the environment.”
“Christians should care about how waste is disposed of in our society, because improperly taking care of trash can negatively impact the environment and human health. Christians may support incinerators because of their ability to reduce the waste volume up to 95%, which would lead to fewer mountains of trash in landfills. Incinerators properly take care of hazardous waste, which prevents these substances from leaking toxicants as they would if disposed in a landfill.”
“As Christians, we are called to care for our environment. We should have concerns about how a facility like Veolia affects our environment. Christians may support Veolia because the company carefully handles hazardous waste. Waste is greatly reduced in volume through incineration. Christians may oppose this facility because the plant takes up a large plot of land, and also emits some pollutants and an unfavorable smell.”
Did the tour change your buying habits?
“In general, I will be more mindful about the products I buy – not only the product itself, but also the packaging it comes in and how much waste it will generate. If something can be bought in a store rather than having it shipped, that will save packaging waste.”
“One takeaway for me would be to create less waste in general. I also want to look for more bio-friendly options that don’t require special disposal measures. Trash must be burned or buried if it can’t be recycled. So, it’s best to make less trash.”
“Visiting the Veolia plant made me realize what a huge job it is to handle our trash. When I throw something away, I often don’t think about the journey my trash takes. I want to start recycling more and be cautious about the products I buy.”
What would you say to someone who opposed a facility like this?
“If a person does not favor this facility, they should be mindful of the products they purchase that may contribute to the operation of a plant like this. In a sense, every person who purchases products that require this type of disposal supports the operation of this facility. Don’t use products that require this type of disposal if you don’t support the operation.”
“Toxic waste must go somewhere. If someone doesn’t like the incinerator, they should use fewer products that will end up there.”
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