Incinerators poison our communities, bodies and foods with toxic ash and toxic chemicals, including by-product dioxins, the moxt toxic chemicals know to science. Incinerators destroy enormous amounts of resources, which we should be sharing with the future generations, and damage efforts to prevent, reduce, compost and recycle waste.

We are appalled by the indefensible obsession by some of our political and corporate leaders to continue burning waste - for convenience, to justify business as usual practice, and for profit - despite the global consensus to clean up the environment and halt the formation of toxic pollutants. The slow progress in phasing in safer, cleaner, non-burn alternatives dismays us. Plans to build new incineration facilities, including the so-called waste-to-energy incinerators, particularly in the developing countries of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and elsewhere, alarm us.

We are specifically upset with the proposals to set up incinerators in Bangkok (Thailand), Beveren (Belgium), Kirkland Lake (Canada), Ringaskiddy (Ireland), Sasolburg (South Africa), Kampung Bohol (Malaysia) and many other places, for either municipal solid waste, hazardous waste or medical waste.

We call upon government leaders and their business and funding partners to stop the destructive practices of incinerating waste and shift instead to least-cost waste prevention systems that conserve resources and enhance environmental justice and sustainable development.

We urge our fellow citizens to stand up and strive to address our waste problems with real solutions - not incineration.