April 21, 2004, Chennai. On the eve of Earth Day 2004, a global environmental health coalition today launched a report that promises a sustainable remedy to the rising waste problems in developing countries. The report Resources up in Flames: The Economic Pitfalls of Incineration versus a Zero Waste Approach in the Global South is being released by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), who challenged policy makers to redirect the millions of dollars lined up for incinerators into waste prevention and reduction and zero waste systems. Says Ann Leonard, GAIA Co-Coordinator: “Incineration encourages a one-way flow of materials on a finite planet. It makes the task of conserving resources and reducing waste more difficult, not easier. Policy makers and citizens need to work together to advance sustainable community-based solutions, without incineration.” 109 individuals and groups from 43 countries across the world will be participating in the global launch of GAIA's latest report.

In Chennai, The Alliance for Waste Management (AWM), a South Asia Coalition of NGO’s is organizing the release function at 6 p.m. at P.T.Thayagaraya Hall, G.N.Chetty Road, T.Nagar by Thiru S.P. Elangovan. IAS, Secretary to The Government of Tamil Nadu, Environment and Forests Department, followed by panel discussions.

According to Resources up in Flames, prepared by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in Washington, D.C. for GAIA, municipal solid waste incinerators—no matter where they are built—have numerous liabilities. In addition to generating pollution and harming public health, they:

· Place huge financial burdens on host communities;
· Drain local communities of financial resources;
· Waste energy and materials;
· Thwart local economic development;
· Undermine waste prevention and rational approaches to discard management;
· Have an operating experience checkered with problems;
· Can go financially bankrupt from tonnage shortfalls; and
· Often leave citizens and taxpayers paying the bill.

Brenda Platt, Co-Director of ILSR and the primary author of the report, asks: “Why invest millions of dollars in a technology that at the end of 30 years leaves you with a pile of potentially toxic ash, when that same money could be redirected to readily available cheaper and safer options that create many more jobs, new businesses, and wealth for local communities.” The report indicates that just sorting recyclables alone in the U.S. can sustain at least 11 times the number of jobs as incineration on a per-ton basis.

Resources up in Flames: The Economic Pitfalls of Incineration versus a Zero Waste Approach in the Global South is a 75-page report, supported by more than 100 footnotes. It contains hard-hitting facts, model programs, and failed incinerator examples. The first half of the report is devoted to the economic problems posed by incinerators and includes a section on how to evaluate a planned incinerator. The second half focuses on non-burn alternatives readily available, and concludes with a 10-step plan for getting starting on the path toward zero waste at the local level. The report is available as a PDF file on GAIA’s web site, located at http://www.no-burn.org . as also in this CD It is being translated into more than a dozen languages. Resources up in Flames is the third report published by GAIA since it was formed in December 2000. GAIA released The World Bank Group and Incineration: Bankrolling Dirty Technologies in 2002 and Waste Incineration: A Dying Technology in 2003.

Chennai has a head start in community waste management

Waste management is a process and NOT a technology. However, many Government’s and Municipalities in India are invariably considering the untested latter option, instead of the proven, successful source segregation, composting and recycling processes, turning a blind-eye to the economic advantages it provides. Technologies normally opted for are based on incineration, a significantly polluting technology.

The report has significant relevance to India and Chennai in particular. In Chennai, the report documents the advantages of the Exnora model of community waste management, over the proposed Solid Waste Energy Recycling Facility (SWERF) by Energy Developments Limited, an Australian-based company. Specifically, the comparisons show that in the Exnora approach upto 90% of wastes get diverted from landfills and at the same time the costs incurred are merely a fraction. Very significantly, it provides employment to 17 times more number of workers.

In general the disadvantages of the incineration approach includes encouragement of waste generation, leaves the environment with much litter, increased truck traffic and pollution, the throw-away culture continues and local governments become reliant on foreign technology and know-how. On the contrary, the advantages of the Zero Waste / Exnora approach include waste reduction, clean environment, citizens support and involvement in the system where (and) they ultimately take responsibility for the waste, decreased truck traffic, and the reliance shifts to local resources and know-how.(re word, shift decreased truck traffic to next to clean environment.)

The Gasification technology, which is the core component of SWERF, is where thermal transformation of solid waste occurs in the presence of a limited supply of air producing a combustible gas. Similar to incineration, the process is as polluting as incineration. Experts opine that the process produces solid and liquid by-products, and a host of air emissions which are all toxic. “Carcinogenic Dioxins, Furans, mercury and other compounds are potentially generated during gasification”, says Rajesh Rangarajan, Toxics Link Chennai.

EDL’s project has been embroiled in controversy for several months now. To begin with the MoU for the project has been kept a secret. Second, the prototype plant in Australia which is the basis for the Chennai design, after several attempts, has been declared commercially unviable. Most recently, the company has admitted in its website that the partner search to sell the project has also been futile. Further, local residents at Perungudi, the project site, have raised opposition to the project.

Clearly these are grounds to cancel the proposal. “On earth day, GAIA, strongly urges the Tami lNadu Government to consider the zero waste approach and protect human health and environment”, Manny Calonzo, GAIA Secretariat.
About GAIA

GAIA is an international alliance of community-based organizations, research and policy advocacy institutions, citizen pressure groups and other nonprofit organizations and individuals working to end the burning of all types of discards and to promote clean production, zero waste, and sustainable waste management systems. It has offices in Quezon City, the Philippines and Berkeley, California. For more information on GAIA, log onto its web site at www.no-burn.org.

For further information contact :
T.K.Ramkumar, Exnora International, 12, Pelathope, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004, www.exnora.org
Dr.Sultan A, Ismail, Director Ecoscience Research Foundation, & Coordinator Alliance for Waste Management, sultan_ismail@vsnl.com, www.erfindia.org
Rajesh Rangarajan, Toxics Link, tlchennai@vsnl.net