"But
it's obvious that incinerators or their
modern variants for that matter are never
going to be a sustainable exercise given
the fundamental issue that burning removes
materials from useful circulation which
further impoverishes the planet,"
she added.
The combined
and simultaneous protest actions around
the world mark the observance of the 2nd
Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration,
by far the most massive demonstration
of public opposition to incinerators on
a global scale. Spearheaded by GAIA, the
yearly anti-incineration day of action
intends to highlight the health, environmental,
economic and social problems associated
with waste burning and other polluting
waste management practices, and at the
same time promote safe and sustainable
alternatives for preventing waste and
managing society's discards.
GAIA today
released the report "Waste
Incineration: A Dying Technology,"
which explains why incinerators
are an unsustainable and obsolete method
for dealing with waste. The GAIA report
concludes that incineration is a dying
technology. As a waste treatment technology,
it is unreliable and produces a secondary
waste stream more dangerous than the original.
As an energy production method, it is
inefficient and wasteful of resources.
As an economic development tool, it is
a catastrophe, which drains money out
of local communities and creates scarce
and often dangerous jobs.
"Today's
actions are clear manifestations of the
growing global resistance against incinerators
and other dirty forms of waste disposal.
With the possible exception of nuclear
power, perhaps no other technology has
stirred up such inflamed defiance from
citizens and communities the world over.
For this and other good reasons, governments
around the world should pay heed and start
implementing safe and sustainable alternatives
to incineration," said Von Hernandez,
Co-Coordinator of GAIA.
Public
opposition has killed many proposed and
existing incinerators worldwide. For instance,
a massive grassroots movement has defeated
more than 300 municipal waste incinerator
proposals in the United States in the
last 15 years. In Japan, the most incinerator
intensive country, public pressure has
resulted in over 500 incinerators being
shut down in recent years. Jurisdictions
in 15 countries have passed partial bans
on incineration and one country, the Philippines,
has banned all incineration.
Today's
actions also coincide with the first day
of the Seventh Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee (INC 7) meeting of the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). The Convention aims to eliminate
the most persistent toxic substances known
to science, including the cancer-causing
dioxins and furans.
The Convention
identifies all waste incinerators, including
cement kilns burning hazardous wastes,
as major sources of dioxins and furans
and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs
and recommends the use of substitute techniques
to avoid the generation of these unintentionally
produced pollutants. The United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) reports that
incinerators account for 69% of dioxin
emissions worldwide.
Incineration
emissions and ash residues have been implicated
in the serious contamination of the environment
, the food supply and even breast milk
, and have been associated with a growing
litany of health problems including various
cancers, reproductive disorders, immune
system dysfunction, and birth defects.
Moreover,
incinerators destroy vast quantities of
resources which could have been recycled
and brought back into the productive economy,
and represents a massive financial drain
on local governments and communities who
will end up paying for the operation and
maintenance of expensive, imported technology
·
This year's
action surpasses the number of participating
groups from last year's Day of Action
that drew 126 groups from 54 countries.
NOTE:
The GAIA
Report "Waste Incineration: A Dying
Technology" is available for free
download at www.no-burn.org The Report
discusses the problems with waste incineration
and explains viable alternatives to this
outdated method for dealing with waste.
The report further talks about the expanding
repudiation of incineration across the
globe, including incinerator bans and
moratoria imposed in several places. Neil
Tangri, formerly of Essential Action USA
wrote the report for GAIA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
PLEASE CONTACT:
Manny Calonzo, GAIA Office, Philippines
Tel:
(+632) 929 0376, Fax: (+632) 436 4733,
E-mail: manny.gaia@no-burn.org
In Geneva at the INC7 POPs meeting: Von
Hernandez (+63917 5263050) |
