"A lot of people envision us throwing bags of garbage into the plant and that's not at all the way it is," said Martin Vroegh, corporate environment manager for St. Mary's Cement. "We're still just a cement plant looking at utilizing fuels that would otherwise be thrown away."

"Many of these so-called wastes or alternative fuels burn cleaner than the status quo," said Mr. Vroegh. "We are trying to do our part for the environment and find other fuel sources ... If you can substitute a dirty fuel for a clean fuel, shouldn't that be what you do?"

"We're substituting one fuel for another. Not disposing of waste," said Mr. Vroegh. "That (incinerator) facility is designed to eliminate a waste problem and recover energy."