As the subject of garbage raises a stink, environmentalist Shibu K. Nair, a volunteer of Thanal, explains how the problem can be alleviated to a certain extent by collective action

Chennai: It’s a simple choice, really, say environmentalists: Either spend as much as . 150 crore on a waste-to-energy plant that does not work and currently is being phased out in developed countries or use a fraction of the money to recycle and compost waste while providing employment to thousands of poor people.

New Delhi - 28-year old Mohammad Azhar sifts through heaps of waste at New Delhi's eastern Ghazipur landfill at dusk, the end of another day's struggle for livelihood and survival. With bruised and blackened hands, Azhar collects plastics, metals and other recyclable materials to sell to local scrap-dealer for 150 rupees (about 3 dollars) to provide for his family's main meal for the day.

Waste-and-pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition (EcoWaste) and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (Gaia) said incinerator pushers are using the climate issue as an additional platform to peddle their polluting technologies.

January 19, 2011. PONDICHERRY, INDIA — About a hundred kilometers up the road from this town, there is a popular picnic spot. It is set in a small forest of casuarina trees, with good views of the shimmering ocean. It could be a scenic spot, but there is a problem: virtually every square centimeter of the ground in that forest is littered with a confetti of plastic bags, discarded plates, bottle caps and other waste.

TIANJIN, China — Maya Khodave normally spends her days rummaging through rubbish dumps in a crowded Indian city but this week she is in China to offer herself as part of the solution to tackling global warming.

Environmentalists are opposing the setting up of a waste waste-to-energy plant in Howrah as it is likely to emit deadly toxic fumes.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) is very concerned to learn that the Malaysian government is considering building two incinerators in Melaka and Johor. Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, was quoted as saying that the projects planned under the 10th Malaysia Plan was at the cost determination stage before being forwarded to the Economic Planning Unit for approval. Besides this, the ministry is also building five mini-incinerators on Pulau Tioman, Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Labuan and in Cameron Highlands.

PUNE: Neil Tangri, a waste-to-energy expert from the US, who visited the city's waste incineration plant at Urali on Wednesday said the civic authority is contradicting itself by having a policy to segregate waste and at the same time plans to set up incineration plants that process mix waste.

BaliFokus is tackling Bali's waste problem with sorting, recycling, and composting. But it is coming into conflict with a private sector project pushing landfill gas and gasification, and backed by carbon credits from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

Fifty public interest groups Monday criticized Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for blatant violation and contempt of a nationwide incineration ban after he watched over the televised incineration of contaminated peanut butter on April 7.

MANILA, Philippines—Environmental groups have urged the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to take steps in eliminating the use of mercury ahead of the Governing Council meeting in Nairobi this month. In their project report titled “Mercury Rising: Reducing Global Emissions form Burning Mercury-Added Products,” Zero Mercury Working Group, Ban Toxics and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives urged UNEP to form an intergovernmental body that will regulate the use of mercury in the manufacture of products.

We urge the government to adopt zero waste approaches that would radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the need for extraction, processing, and the transport of raw materials, as well as avoiding emissions from disposal (incineration, landfilling, open dumping and open burning). These savings far exceed the emissions from waste disposal facilities, and can play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

HCWH commends Philippines legislators in canceling incinerator loan.

GAIA demands zero budget allocation for obsolete Austrian incinerators dumped in Philippines

Group asks full disclosure of endosulfan retrievalManila Bulletin, Philippines - 2 hours agoBANtay Endosulfan, composed of the Cavite Green Coalition, EcoWaste Coalition, Global alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Greenpeace, Health Care Without ...

MANILA, Philippines—A country that is grappling with tons of garbage every day can’t be made a dumping ground of toxic wastes, non-government organizations said in an appeal to the Senate not to ratify the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. In a letter to Senate President Manuel Villar, 66 NGO leaders from around the world joined calls from local NGOs urging the Senate not to approve what they describe as a “flawed treaty” that promotes trade of toxic wastes.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Grassroots community leaders and activists, who are working on sustainable waste solutions, have pledged their support to Zero Waste over 'waste to energy' (WTE) incinerators.

21 August, 2008. TAMBARAM, Tamil Nadu, India: After visiting compost yards at a couple of locations in the southern suburbs of Chennai on Tuesday, a delegation of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said there was a need for effective alternatives to combat climate change for which burning of garbage was an important cause.