SAWPA came together in November to object to the proposal by EnviroServ to construct a waste incineration facility at the Chloorkop waste site, calling on the government to deny EnviroServ permission to build a waste incinerator facility at Chloorkop.
November 8th was the Global Day of Action Against Incineration. More than 25 actions in 14 countries across six continents were held to protest incineration and promote zero waste and socially inclusive alternatives.
Despite South Africa’s waste management legislation stipulating that incineration be the last resort in waste disposal, approximately 300 waste pickers on the Chloorkop landfill in Kempton Park are set to lose their jobs as a result of Enviroserve’s proposed waste-to-energy incinerator.
GAIA would like to invite our members and allied groups to join our 13th Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration and for Zero Waste Alternatives on November 8, 2013. The 2013 Global Day of Action on Waste and Incineration will be part of the Global Month of Action on Dirty Energy organized by a coalition of international networks. This Month of Action is a united effort to demand the transformation of our energy systems in favor of sustainable and community-based solutions.
Join us by signing this letter to Mexican authorities requesting protection for Jorge Tadeo Vargas, an activist who struggles peacefully for environmental and social justice from the territories.
The government of Barueri plans on burning 97 percent of its waste and recycling only 3 percent, as well as burning waste from nearby cities. The proposal runs against the National Waste Policy, which gives priority to reducing and recycling with social inclusion, as well as federal and UN environmental policies.
In Brazil, the fight against incineration continues. In São Bernardo do Campo, waste pickers attended public debate about waste to energy between the municipal government and the Anti-Incineration Coalition held at a Methodist church in the city. São Bernardo plans to install an incinerator that will burn waste in surrounding cities for a period of at least 30 years.
On January 1, a fire broke out in the municipal landfill of León, Nicaragua. According to Red Lacre, bad management by the municipal government and Cielo Group, the company responsible for the landfill’s operations, was the cause of the fire.
Chintan Environmental Research & Action Group and Safai Sena just released a new documentary, Credits vs Carbon Credits. The film explores the effects of large projects vying for carbon credits on the livelihoods of waste pickers.
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Revuelta Verde recently released a report on the struggle against waste incineration in cement factories in Mexico. The United Nations´ Clean Development Mechanism (carbon trading scheme) could approve a proposal for a UK-based company to incinerate waste in a cement kiln in Huichapan
We face the Rio +20 Conference with deep concerns about the state of the formal United Nations negotiations and the policies that are being promoted by governments on environmental matters, specifically in the area of waste. (…)