Government urged: Strictly enforce incineration ban

MANILA, Philippines - A local waste and pollution watchdog yesterday criticized some waste management companies for undermining the true intent of the Clean Air Act (Republic Act 8749) through what it called “greenwashing.”

This, as the EcoWaste Coalition urged the strict enforcement of the incineration ban, as provided under the Clean Air Act, which is set to mark its 10th year tomorrow.

According to EcoWaste, the Philippines set “a positive and leading example for the world” when it banned waste incinerators as part of the Clean Air Act. 

The group said the law’s enactment rightly envisioned the need to veer away from wasteful, destructive and polluting practices that contribute to climate change.

However, EcoWaste said that while the intent of the Clean Air Act was clear in terms of outlawing waste incinerators due to the toxic and poisonous fumes associated with the process, some waste management companies sanctioned by government authorities have also been busy in their efforts to undermine the law. 

“Despite the ban, vendors would not stop peddling costly incinerators, camouflaging their waste burning processes as ‘green’ solutions and giving them modern-sounding labels such as pyrolysis, gasification, plasma, cement kiln co-processing, etc.,” Manny Calonzo, president of EcoWaste, said.

“The national and local authorities and the citizens need to stay informed and alert against attempts to ‘greenwash’ modern incinerators,” he added.

According to EcoWaste, “greenwashing” refers to the practice of some companies “to dishonestly spin their policies and goods as ecologically sound and beneficial to the people and the environment.”

In time for the 10th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, the group locally co-released yesterday the report made by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) titled “An Industry Blowing Smoke.”

Calonzo said the report debunks industry efforts to “greenwash” gasification, pyrolysis and plasma incineration, and recommends more sensible directions that should be considered by decision-makers, such as zero waste strategies.

Calonzo said the report concludes that new incineration technologies like older-style burners are expensive and inefficient and contribute to climate change and pose serious public health risks.

He also said the report indicated that, compared to conventional mass burn incinerators, modern incinerators emit comparable levels of toxic emissions.

He said emissions limits do not ensure safety and are not always adequately enforced.

Calonzo likewise said the report further calls attention to the relatively few jobs created by capital-intensive waste incineration projects when compared to recycling and composting programs.

The report’s author, GAIA’s Dave Ciplet, pointed out that recycling, reuse and composting create six to 10 times the number of jobs than both waste incinerators and landfills.

“These new, expensive incinerators would keep much-needed funding and resources from being invested in real solutions,” Ciplet said. “We could be creating millions of jobs worldwide by turning waste into work.”

At this point, EcoWaste and the local chapter of GAIA urged the country’s decision-makers to “stick to ecological, cost-effective and job-creating solutions” such as waste prevention, reduction, source separation, reuse, recycling and composting amid a global climate and financial crisis.

The groups further asked the government to shut down all existing incinerators that “managed to circumvent the ban” due to the lax enforcement of the Clean Air Act, and disallow further combustion of waste in dumps, garbage burners and cement kilns.

On June 23, 1999, then President Joseph Estrada signed the Clean Air Act, which, among other preventive and precautionary steps, prohibits the open burning and incineration of municipal, healthcare and hazardous waste, the process of which emits toxic and poisonous fumes.

EcoWaste and GAIA insisted that gasification, pyrolysis and plasma incineration “are not green solutions” because this process depletes resources and in many cases, permanently damages the natural environment and contributes to climate change.