A strong political will is what Malaysia needs to push for a sustainable waste management practice, instead of opting for a "costly and deadly incinerator technology", the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) said today.

Its president, SM Mohd Idris, said it was unfortunate that the government favoured incineration to a proven, safe and sustainable waste disposal and management system.

"What we need is a holistic, community-driven approach that focuses on waste prevention, reduction, segregation at source, recycling and composting," he said in conjunction with Earth Day 2004 today.

"With active participation of the public, the government and the industry, we can put a stop to wasting, conserve our resources and safeguard public health."

The proposed 1,500-tonne world's largest incinerator plant in Broga, near Semenyih, is pending government approval for the environmental impact assessment study.

Idris was responding to a report entitled 'Resources Up in Flames: The Economic Pitfalls of Incineration Versus a Zero Waste Approach in the Global South' released by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

Hard-hitting facts

In calling on governments and citizens to go for zero waste and reject incineration, GAIA co-ordinator, Ann Leonard, urged policy-makers and citizens to work together and advance "sustainable community-based solutions without incineration".

The 75-page report contains "hard-hitting facts, model programmes and failed incinerator examples".

"The first-half of the report is devoted to the economic problems posed by incinerators and includes a section on how to evaluate a planned incinerator," said Idris.

"The second half focuses on non-burn alternatives readily-available, and concludes with a 10-step plan for getting started towards zero waste at the local level."

The report, prepared by Washington-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, will be available in more than 12 languages. The Bahasa Malaysia translation has been done by CAP.

Brenda Platt, the institute's co-director and main author of the report, asked for the logic behind investing millions of dollars in a technology that "leaves you with a pile of potentially toxic ash" 30 years later.

"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 showed that the sorting of recyclables in the US alone could sustain at least 11 times more jobs than incineration on a per-tonne basis.

This is GAIA's third report since its inception in 2000. Two previous reports are 'The World Bank Group and Incineration: Bankrolling Dirty Technologies' and 'Waste Incineration: A Dying Technology'.

GAIA also challenged policy makers to redirect the millions of dollars set aside for incinerators into waste prevention and reduction, and zero waste systems.

According to the executive summary, the report details 20 reasons why incineration is a losing financial proposition for host communities in industrialising countries.

While debunking some common myths about incineration, the report also provides a checklist for evaluating a proposed municipal solid waste incinerator project.

Pushing for alternatives

"A growing zero waste movement is gaining momentum worldwide and innovative regulatory systems requiring 'extended producer responsibility' for products promise to reduce disposal even further," read the summary.

"Local, national, regional and international networks of concerned citizens and professionals have formed to halt proposals for new incinerators, phase out old ones and push for alternative systems based on sustainable production and consumption patterns."

The report shows how locals can start zero waste initiatives at their level by following 10 basic steps.

The executive summary also highlighted several cases to illustrate the success of alternative waste disposal and management methods in developing as well as advanced countries.

In one case, a US$41 million (RM155.8 million) incinerator was proposed for Chennai, an Indian city populated by 4.3 million, to gasify 600 tonnes of municipal solid wastes.

The move by local authorities to privatise waste collection has already jeopardised the large community-based recycling and composting efforts in the city.

This case revealed that incineration only diverted half of the total 3,500 tonnes of waste generated daily in Chennai whereas the community-based programme had the potential to divert 90 percent of it.

"The heart of the programme is teaching citizens to take responsibility for their discards and not to litter," added the summary.

"(Besides being very costly)... the incineration system has a far more detrimental impact on the environment, local economic development and other quality-of-life aspects such as truck traffic."

Also outlined in the summary are four cases of local citizens successfully employing community-based waste disposal methods, namely in Cairo (Egypt), Mumbai (India), Barangay Sun Valley (the Philippines) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

The proposed 1,500-tonne incinerator in Broga has been widely-criticised by local and international activists on grounds that it was a public health and environmental hazard, and was using unproven technology.