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Incineration banned under our new energy policy—ADB

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THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained that incineration will not be allowed under the new energy policy of the Manila-based multilateral development bank.

In an e-mail to BusinessMirror, ADB Energy Sector Group Chief Yongping Zhai said the policy will not allow incineration, which is defined as the uncontrolled combustion of waste and absence of pollution control technology.

However, Zhai said Waste to Energy (WTE) projects will be allowed under the new energy policy. He said these facilities should “include flue gas emissions and air pollution control residue capture and treatment complying with international standards and best international practice.”

“The energy policy will encourage integrated actions starting with waste avoidance and waste minimization, including the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) apps to encourage higher reuse, recycling, and upcycling rates,” Zhai said.

“As we move down the waste hierarchy pyramid, there are 30 activities which can be implemented to make better use of waste and reduce its impacts on our environment,” he added.

WTE projects, Zhai said, are preferred over uncontrolled combustion in landfills, combustion of plastics in industrial boilers, and dumping of waste in uncontrolled non-sanitary landfills.

Citing 2016 World Bank data, Zhai said uncontrolled non-sanitary landfills account for 93 percent of waste handling in the developing world.

He added that while certain countries including the Philippines ban incineration, the bank’s safeguards policy will be applied to projects, including on Waste-to-Energy projects.

Section 20 of the Clean Air Act of 1999 bans incineration. Incineration is defined by law as “the burning of municipal, biomedical and  hazardous waste, whose process emits poisonous and toxic fumes is hereby prohibited.”

The only exceptions are “traditional small-scale method of community/neighborhood sanitation siga, traditional, agricultural, cultural, health, and food preparation and crematoria.”

The ADB, Zhai said, “does not work around local laws. We note that robust policy, regulatory and compliance frameworks are required and ADB will continue to support capacity development across waste management activities in our DMCs.”

Zhai added that, “ADB’s safeguards policy is applied to all loans and investments including Waste to Energy. Compliance with international standards is part of the safeguards process,” he added.

Meanwhile, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific in a recent briefing expressed concerns over the support extended by ADB in its Energy policy for all kinds of WTE projects.

Philippine Earth Justice Center Rose Osorio noted that such support will not help DMCs attain carbon neutrality since WTE uses incineration as a technology to process waste.

“ADB is not really harmonizing their assistance to countries like the Philippines in terms of trying to help these countries attain carbon neutrality,” Osorio said.

Osorio, a lawyer, added that the ADB can even be held liable for its actions in terms of violations of existing laws such as the Clean Air Act.

She added that incineration also violates the Solid Waste Management Law or Republic Act 9003 which was signed into law in 2001.

Section 2 of the law provides that the country’s solid waste management program shall “Ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of the best environmental practice in ecological waste management excluding incineration.”

“These waste to energy facilities actually encourage more waste to be produced rather than stopping waste at the source,” Osorio said.

She said about 600 metric tons of feed stock are required to run these WTE facilities. This means more waste is needed to continue operating them.

Osorio said this will also become a burden to cash-strapped local government units because they need to pay for these facilities in the long run.

Read full article on BusinessMirror

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