Miami-Dade County commissioners voted Wednesday to move forward with building a new waste-to-energy facility, a key step in addressing the region’s growing trash problem.
“I think it’s a victory for the residents of Miami-Dade, not just District 12,” said Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, who opposed rebuilding at the site of the Doral incinerator that burned in 2023.
Controversial sites taken off the table
“The facility will not be built either in Doral or Medley or in the 58th Street portion or Sweetwater or Airport West,” Bermudez said.
Any new facility must now be located at least half a mile from any residential area. The decision was applauded by Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam.
“I just want to say thank you to the leadership of Miami-Dade County commissioners who voted to remove Airport West from consideration,” Messam said.
New policy emphasizes recycling and composting
The motion, proposed by Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, was approved unanimously.
“The policy was set at the county today that we will build a waste-to-energy facility with a heavy emphasis on composting and recycling,” Cohen Higgins said. “The ultimate decision of where it’ll be built is still yet to be determined.”
Two sites remain under consideration
The two remaining sites under consideration are west of Okeechobee Road and are located on private property.
“I believe that the technology today for waste-to-energy is environmentally sound,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Earlier in the day, she had suggested considering landfills instead of incinerators. But after the vote, she expressed support for the decision to move forward.
“I was not opposed in principle to waste-to-energy,” Levine Cava said. “My concern was how we are going to get there, because there’s been a lot of back and forth about where it’s going to be.”
Final decision expected in 90 days
Proposals that had sparked outrage in Doral and Miramar—where residents opposed having an incinerator in their backyard—have now been removed from consideration. The site of the old incinerator and a location in Medley are officially off the table.
Commissioners are expected to reconvene in 90 days to make a final decision on the two remaining sites.
