Argentina celebrates the fail of incineration project in Cordoba

(Argentina, August 3rd, 2010). Local groups celebrated the fall of the tender for the treatment of solid urban waste that had been given to Innviron, a USA company. Though, they announced that they will be alert since there is the chance of opening of new tenders that could contemplate the incineration as a waste management system for the city.

The decision was made after Daniel Giacomino, mayor of Cordoba, visited the facilities of Innviron the United States:  "the technology that Innviron operates in the USA does not comply the established needs".

It was announced a few months ago the development of three projects to install gasification plants of urban solid waste in Cordoba, Villa Maria and Rio Cuarto (Argentina), with an investment of U$315 million. Since then, organized groups and international alliances (Coalición Ciudadana Anti Incineración from Argentina, local members of GAIA and Greenpeace Argentina) deployed a large movement that questioned this waste management proposal.

The proponent firm, Innviron, opened its subsidiary in Argentina in 2009. While in Cordoba the firm entered through a bid of Creses (the company responsible for municipal waste collection), in Villa Maria the project was approved quickly, and in Rio Cuarto councilors stopped it. Eco Sitio, a local organization located in Villa Maria, expressed from the beginning its concerns, which were transmitted to the Mayor. Among them, Luis Tuninetti, president of Eco Sitio, said the report took as examples plants that are not finished, like Anji County in China. "Among the objections raised, is the lack of certificates evidencing Innviron lack of experience in treatment of waste via gasification”. According to Greenpeace, "the firm does not have a similar technology to that proposed in Cordoba." However, in the view for the environmental group, the insistence of the municipality on considering gasification plants will attract new sellers of "smoke."

Citizen groups will remain vigilant in order to rule out risky and polluting options such as incineration and choose others more friendly to the environment and human health. Among the proposals made by groups opposing the project, is to encourage waste management that tends to reduce generation, classification (separation between organic and inorganic), establish a separate collection and integrate the wastepickers in the process.