Wheelabrator officials say the 34-year-old incinerator is better for the environment than trucking garbage to landfills, noting that the new legislation “will result in 37,000 new tractor-trailer trips” on local roads and associated truck emissions. The facility generates electricity, producing carbon dioxide in the process, but the company argues that energy otherwise would come from burning fossil fuels without the benefit of disposing trash. Landfills also release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as trash decomposes.