The Economic Pitfalls of Incineration versus a Zero Waste Approach in the Global South

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PRESS RELEASE
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RESOURCES
· Executive Summary
· 20 Reasons Why incineration is a losing financial proposition for host communities
· Incinerator Myths
· Aiming for Zero Waste: 10steps to get started
· Conclusion
 

Governments and Citizens Urged:
Go for Zero Waste, Reject Incineration
     


Tara Buakamsri - don't throw our resources away.

 21 April 2004, Bangkok -- On the eve of Earth Day 2004, Greenpeace activists together with NGOs Coalition for Ecological Waste Management have proposed that the Government of Thailand adopt a Zero Waste Policy in the draft National Solid Waste Management Strategy.

The groups held a press conference at the press room of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) after handing out a letter of demand and report to the Minister. The report is the joint position of an environmental health coalition representing groups from 39 countries globally and it offers 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 was 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.

Tara Buakamsri, Toxic Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia and a member of GAIA, said: “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.”

“In Thailand we are throwing away more than 4.5 million tons of recyclables worth around 400 million USD every year.(1) This value can be tapped by improving waste prevention and reduction as well as recycling.”

He noted that a zero waste target has been proposed by the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency by 2030(2).

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.

While the report introduces the concept and need for zero waste planning and highlights the growing worldwide zero-waste movement and numerous examples of communities embracing such an approach, it emphasizes that non-burn alternatives are within reach of communities today and can pay immediate economic dividends.

In the global South, where organic material—yard trimmings and food scraps—is the single largest component of the waste stream, appropriately designed composting programs will be the easiest, quickest, and least-expensive method to divert discards from disposal.

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.


For more information :

Tara Buakamsri – Toxic Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Tel. 01 8550013.
Ua-phan Chamnan-ua – Media Officer, Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Tel. 01 928 2426
Visit http://www.no-burn.org.


Notes :
(1) see more details at Thailand Environment Monitor 2003 (www.worldbank.or.th)
(2) Zero Waste Strategy for Thailand has shown in power point presentation at www.dede.go.th

 

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