Clearing the Air: The Truth Behind Waste Incineration

All too often, local governments and regulatory agencies charged with protecting community health have failed to properly monitor incinerator facilities’ pollution levels, allowing them to continue unchecked. In three such communities, GAIA members decided to take matters into their own hands. 
War on Waste (WOW) Negros Oriental (Dumaguete City, Philippines), Green Knowledge Foundation (Ogijo, Ogun State Nigeria), and Indonesian Environmental Forum or WALHI (Surabaya City, Indonesia) used portable air quality monitors to track levels of particulate matter 2.5 and 10 in the air nearby the incineration facility.

These community leaders are using this data to call on their local governments to enforce stricter environmental regulations and monitoring for polluting facilities, if not shut them down altogether.