New York residents say a hazardous waste incinerator’s emissions violate their new constitutional right to a “healthful environment.”

What is the alternative to burning the waste? The article states that Norlite burns waste fuels to create lightweight aggregates for concrete production. Are there other ways to create aggregates without sacrificing the structural integrity of the material? I'm aware of vague initiatives in the industry to "decarbonize," but it's never been clear to me what reasonable pathways toward net-zero construction are.

These New Yorkers shouldn't have to put up with industry burning toxic waste in their community, but every single one of their houses is built with concrete. If part of the company's emissions are necessary for human existence, then shutting down the factory will effectively just outsource it to another location, which doesn't solve the problem. It might make producing concrete in that way a little bit more expensive, but it doesn't change the material demand for concrete nor would it probably be sufficient to incentivize the industry to abandon high-emission/toxic industrial processes.

As for the other toxic materials the company is burning, which seem to have no productive purpose, that's really bad. Continual violations of state law are reprehensible. New York should withdraw Norlite's permits on the basis that it cannot abide by existing regulations, period. I'm surprised that they've been given so much lenience. No state should allow companies to flagrantly violate safety measures.