What is Incineration?
[[File:Manlove, Alliott furnace.jpg|thumb|Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. 1894 destructor furnace at [[Cambridge Museum of Technology]]]] [[File:Movinggrate.jpg|thumb|Trash burning in an incinerator. The heat released by the burning trash is used to generate electricity.]] [[File:Leeds RERF 4 August 2017.jpg|thumb|right|A waste incinerator in [[Leeds]], [[England]].]] '''Incineration''' is a form of [[waste disposal]] in which waste is burnt. Incineration converts the waste into [[ash]], [[flue gas]], and [[heat]]. The heat can be used to generate [[electricity]] with a [[steam turbine]]. ==History== The first incinerators for waste disposal were built in [[Nottingham]] by [[Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd.]] in 1874. They were originally known as '''destructors'''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Centenary History of Waste and Waste Managers in London and South East England | first = Lewis | last = Herbert | publisher = Chartered Institution of Wastes Management | year = 2007 | url = http://ciwm.activedition.com/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=1094&sID=469 | format = PDF }}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The first incinerator in the US was built in 1885 on [[Governors Island]] in New York, NY.<ref>{{cite web|title=Energy Recovery - Basic Information|publisher=US EPA|url=http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/wte/basic.htm}}</ref> Incinerators are controversial because they can [[Air pollution|pollute the air]], but they also have environmental benefits such as reducing the need for [[landfill]]s and generating electricity that might otherwise be generated by burning [[coal]]. == References == {{reflist}} {{stub}} [[Category:Waste management]]