In Portland, residential waste was up 12% and commercial was up 2% in June, said ecomaine's spokesman. : In Portland, residential waste was up 12% and commercial was up 2% in June, said ecomaine's spokesman. PORTLAND  — America remains awash in refuse as new cases of the coronavirus decline — and that has reignited a debate about the sustainability of burning more trash to create energy. Waste-to-energy plants, which produce most of their power by incinerating trash, make up only about half a percent of the electricity generation in the U.S.