The Shrinking Thermal Grid

For years, the Curtis Bay Energy facility in Baltimore served as one of the East Coast’s primary destinations for medical waste, accepting shipments from as far south as Florida and across the mid-Atlantic. Its closure, following years of community opposition, removes hundreds of tons per day of regional thermal treatment capacity from the national grid.

This is not an argument against incineration. High-temperature thermal treatment remains a proven, regulated, and necessary part of the healthcare waste ecosystem — and for certain waste streams it remains the required pathway. But the Curtis Bay closure is a wake-up call: the thermal grid is finite, it is shrinking in key regions, and the healthcare systems that depend on it need to understand their options. Read More >