Community Engagement

Covanta Energy has a long history of interacting and engaging with communities in the US.  Many of our community programmes are centred around waste disposal and recycling. Additionally, our facility-run volunteer programmes assist in cleaning up local rivers, streets and parks and supporting local household hazardous waste programmes. Covanta also sponsors many local sports teams, food pantries and education programmes in communities where we operate.

In the UK Covanta also has a strong focus on the community. Our facilities are developed under an early and high level of community consultation. The design aspects of our facilities at Rookery in Bedfordshire, and Green Hills in Scotland have been developed following extensive consultation with the public. Covanta listens to the views of local communities and where we can, we act on those views.

This focus on community also goes beyond the office. Even with a packed portfolio of projects Covanta’s team in the UK find time to regularly raise funds for charity. The team has scaled mountains, cycled hundreds of miles, baked cakes, and collected books and films;all to raise money for good causes. As facilities get established and start to come online Covanta is committed to continuing this ethos for the benefit of the communities and the environment where we operate.

Mercury and toxics reduction: Mercury Containing Device Collections

Covanta believes that the best strategy for preventing the release of mercury and other toxins into the environment is by reducing or eliminating their use in consumer products. In the absence of a nationwide initiative to address this matter, Covanta has conducted mercury awareness collection programmes since 2000 to inform the public that mercury-bearing items, such as thermometers and thermostats, should not be discarded with other regular rubbish. Learn More .

Water Supply Contamination Prevention: Prescription for Safety Program (Rx4Safety)

Based on evidence of pollution in waterways and drinking water, as well as an increase in pharmaceutical drug abuse, Covanta Energy has developed the Prescription for Safety Programme (Rx4Safety) to provide free, safe disposal of medications collected at community sponsored drug take-back programmes. Learn More.

Reducing Debris in U.S. Coastal Waters: Fishing for Energy

Fishing for Energy is a partnership between Covanta Energy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Programme, and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. It was established in 2008 to reduce the financial burden imposed on commercial fishermen when disposing of old, derelict gear (i.e. gear that is lost in the marine environment) as well as the amount of gear that inadvertently ends up in U.S. coastal waters. Learn more .

ECOvanta

Our mission is to provide a safe and sustainable process that protects our environment as well as your personal data and intellectual property. ECOvanta will safely manage your end-of-life electronics using a combination of manual disassembly and an automated shredding system to separate materials into commodities for recycling. Hazardous materials such as fluorescent lamps and batteries found in many types of electronics made today will be separated and sent to licensed facilities for proper management as universal waste.  ECOvanta will recycle and/or recover as much material as possible and the small fraction that cannot be recycled will be sent to a Covanta Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility for energy recovery.

Addressing Plastic Waste in the Pacific Ocean: The Clinton Global Initiative and Project Kaisei

An extension of our Fishing for Energy efforts is a collaboration started in 2009 with Project Kaisei through the Clinton Global Initiative. Covanta is working with Project Kaisei to begin to address the pollution caused by plastic waste accumulating in the North Pacific Gyre. A parallel effort is a programme with students at Yale University was completed to better understand waste management practices that contribute to the formation of the Gyre and possible solutions to its eradication.

Learn more about our local community involvement in our Facilities section.