We, representing the Global
Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), urge the Government
of Malaysia to refrain from building incinerators and to implement
national and community zero waste plans. GAIA brings together
over 360 non-profit groups and individuals from 66 countries,
including Malaysia, working to phase out all forms of waste
incineration and to promote clean production, zero waste and
sustainable waste management systems.
Municipal waste incineration
is a costly, polluting, unsustainable and outmoded approach
to waste management. However, a comprehensive zero waste approach
not only keeps the valuable resources contained in municipal
waste (such as paper, compostables, glass, etc.) in the local
economy, but also creates job opportunities in many sectors.
Modern incinerators are by
far the most expensive approach to waste management; construction
costs alone can be hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. Incinerator
companies and international financial institutions have devised
various complicated financing schemes to lock governments
into long-term payments, which have often proved disastrous
for local governments. In the United States, many towns have
been driven into debt by their incinerators.
Incinerator operations are
plagued with technical problems and frequently fail to achieve
the operations standards they are designed for, although even
these standards are inadequate to ensure protection of public
health or the environment. The 10 municipal waste incinerators
in the U.K. together exceeded their emissions limits 553 times
in a single year. Residual incinerator ash contains many toxic
materials and presents a grave public health threat.
Many pollutants from incinerators
have been associated with significant environmental and human
health effects. Incinerators are a major source of mercury,
which is a powerful neurotoxin, impairing motor, sensory and
cognitive functions. Acid gases, such as hydrogen chloride
(HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen bromide (HBr), and
sulfur oxides (SOx), can damage incinerators, primarily by
corroding air pollution control equipment. They also can cause
or exacerbate a wide range of human health problems -- especially
respiratory disorders -- and are acid rain precursors. Incinerator
emissions have also been shown to be mutagenic, meaning that
they alter human DNA.
According to the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), incinerators are the leading
source of dioxin into the global environment. Dioxin is the
most toxic manmade substance known; dioxin causes cancer and
neurological damage, and disrupts reproductive systems, thyroid
systems, respiratory systems, and other serious health effects.
A newly published study of
adolescent children who lived near two incinerators found
:
? Elevated blood levels of PCBs, dioxins and metabolites of
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the children’s
blood; Delayed sexual maturation; Delayed breast development
in girls;Delayed genital development in boys;Reduced testicular
volume among the boys.In Japan, incinerators are estimated
to cause 93 percent of dioxin air emissions; in Switzerland,
85 percent; in Great Britain, 79 percent; and in Denmark,
70 percent. Authors of the 1999 European Dioxin Inventory
note, "Despite considerable effort having been spent
during the last years to decrease the emissions from municipal
waste incinerators, this source type still dominates the input
of [dioxins] into the atmosphere."
Incineration is an unacceptable
way of addressing municipal waste management. We encourage
Malaysia to follow the example of zero waste approaches which
have been put in place in a number of places in the Third
World, including Cairo (Egypt), Curitiba (Brazil) and Mumbai
(India), which have succeeded in composting and recycling
the vast majority of their municipal discards.
These approaches have proven
capable of reducing the waste going to landfill by as much
as 85%. Nevertheless, additional measures will be needed to
completely close the materials cycle. Programs such as Extended
Producer Responsibility, under which firms take responsibility
for their products over their entire lifecycles, encourage
producers to redesign their products for easy and safe recycling.
A comprehensive approach towards clean production in manufacturing
facilities is necessary for preventing the environmental,
public health, and economic burdens of industrial and municipal
wastes upon Malaysia.
We call upon the Malaysian
government and its business and funding partners to stop the
destructive practice of incinerating waste and shift instead
to least-cost waste prevention systems that conserve resources
and enhance environmental justice and sustainable development
for Malaysia.
Ann Leonard and Von Hernandez
International Co-Coordinators
GAIA
8 April 2003
GAIA International Secretariat
Unit 320, Eagle Court, 26 Matalino St., Quezon City, Philippines
Phone: +632-9290376 Fax: +632-4364733 Website: www.no-burn.org
