Groups claim trash "solution" is a lie

CEBU, Philippines - Civil Society Groups are opposing the proposed Waste-to-Energy Project saying the notion that it is the solution to the city’s garbage problem is a lie.

Raphael “Paeng” Lopez of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said it is not true that the WTE is using technology that is clean, pollution-free, with zero emissions or that can combat climate change.

He said the fact is that the WTE will use mass incineration, pyrolysis and plasma gasification, which he said are all forms of burning.

“Pyrolysis and plasma arc are classified as incineration by the European Union and US Environmental Protection Agency. They said that there is zero emission? That fact is the cleaner the air emission, the more toxic the ash is,” Lope said in a public forum yesterday morning at City Hall.

He said emissions from a WTE facility may contain toxic chemicals like dioxin.

“Dioxin can cause cancer, defective babies and will alter the reproductive system. Ito po ay napakamapanganib. Walang safe level sa katawan,” Lopez said.

The group insists there are alternatives to the WTE facility that the city can explore rather than force people to use a technology that has not been proven effective.

But Alan Dinampo of the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines, one of the members of the Solid Waste Management Board, said that GAIA and the Health Care without Harm are misleading the people. He insisted that the proposed WTE of Greenergy Solutions Inc. will not be using incineration, but anaerobic digestion to process the waste.

Dinampo is one of the board members who voted in favor of the project among the other proposals the SWMB has evaluated. SWMB, with a member from the Environmental Management Bureau itself, approved the GSI proposal because of its promise of clean technology and because it will not cost the city a single centavo.

The proposed WTE project will cost about P4 billion and will be financed by GSI’s foreign partners. The construction will be at no cost to the city and once operational, the city will not be made to pay the tipping cost. Earlier, GSI assured its technology will not use incineration.

Landfill manager Engr. Randy Navarro told the public that the remediation of the landfill is urgent. He said the longer the 1.8-million tons of waste stay in the landfill, the more harm it brings to the community.

Navarro himself admitted he is in favor of the establishment of a WTE facility to get rid of the garbage in the landfill and take care of the hundreds of tons of garbage being generated daily.

On the other hand, Gloria Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center said Republic Act 9003 of the Ecological Waste Management Act must be given a chance to be implemented to solve the city’s garbage problem.

“Let’s give RA 9003 a chance. Lets us mobilize the people. I don’t think instant solution will work,” she said.

Ramos believes that the provisions of RA 9003 for recycling, reuse and composting, among others, will solve the city’s problem if everything will be implemented in the household level.

She said it is up now to the city officials and barangay officials to mobilize their people in the barangays. She said Barangay Luz was able to do it and even earned a national award in the past.

“If barrio Luz can do it, why can’t it be replicated in other barangays?” Ramos said.

Ramos, who is also a teacher, said it is a matter or forming values to the people to get them to cooperate and let them do their share in solving the garbage problem.

But Navarro said barangays have no space for Material Recovery Facilities. In fact, in Quiot, the proposed MRF is under protest because the people are afraid of its effects to residents living nearby.

Councilor Nida Cabrera, who facilitated the forum, also expressed her reservations against the project.

“We don’t need a silver bullet technical solution. What Cebu City needs is a community-developed participatory waste management system where waste reduction, proper segregation and collection, recycling and organics management are paramount,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera questioned the Executive Department and the SWMB for rushing the council to approve the contract of the project, which, she said does not even have a clear implementing rules and regulations and do not include provisions on the social impact of the project to the community, particularly the 400 scavengers who will lose their livelihood.

Fr. Max Abalos, from the Action for Nurturing Children and Environment said that it is but proper for the proponent of the project, Greenergy Solutions Inc., to be present at the forum to answer the claims of the civil society groups opposed to the proposed WTE.

“I was just aware that there is an ongoing forum sponsored by Councilor Cabrera with the sole purpose of denouncing the proposed WTE project even before the proponent has presented its position. Basic fairness and equity demands that GSI be given a chance to present its proposal at the city council in an open session with the presence of media and the public,” said SWMB presiding officer Jade Ponce.

“This forum serves no other purpose than to vilify a company who has no opportunity to defend itself. In the meantime, Councilor Cabrera has already lost objectivity and impartiality to review a proposal she has openly opposed. Propriety and delicadeza dictates that she should inhibit,” Ponce added. –(FREEMAN)