Submission L Why say no to incineration

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Submission LWhy say no to incineration!

• Bobby Peek
• groundWork
• Friends of the Earth, South Africa

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Who is groundWork

• Bobby Peek Director of groundWork.
• groundWork is a NGO based in PMB working with
  community people resisting environmental
  injustices such as hazardous waste dumping and
  incineration.
• We the South African member of Friends of the
  Earth, the largest environmental federation
  represented in 70 countries including 10 in
  Africa.
• Chaired by Meena Raman of Friends of the Earth
  Malaysia.
• Ms Raman participated on the ANC Mission on
  Environment to South Africa in 1992.

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Death at the Dawn of Democracy!

• Thor Chemicals was forced to stop their
  incineration operation in Margate, the UK in the
  late 1980s.
• The exported the incinerator to Cato Ridge,
  KwaZulu-Natal.
• The South African government allowed them to
  import waste as a resource / by-product for
  recycling purpose.
• As a result three workers died by 1994 and more
  than forty have been injured site is still not
  cleaned up.
• Commission of Enquiry found government and the
  company guilty by commission and or ommission.

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Not a new issue!

• In the early 1990s Sydney Saunders and Peacock
  Bay proposed to burn hazardous waste in SA
  Alexander Bay.
• Importation of waste.
• Earthlife Africa strong national campaign.
• Proposal rejected by public.

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Never give up!

• 1999 Sydney Saunders, Peacock Bay appear with
  American assistance.
• Propose to burn hazardous waste in Sasolburg
  speculating on Sasols waste.
• Local Sasolburg people, groundWork and the Legal
  Resource Centre challenge this.
• Free State government hold public hearings.
• Global Anti Incineration Alliance secretariat
  from The Philippines attends hearings.
• Representative of DTI supports proposal.
• Indicate that if SA can make money from the
  importation of waste into the country it should
  be considered.
• Free State government deny permission because of
  health concerns.

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World Bank, the IFC, Durban City and Mondi

• In 1998 partnership proposed to burn Durban
  Municipal Waste
• In an purpose built waste incinerator and
• In Mondi Boiler.
• Civil society representatives went to Washington
  DC, met with IFC officials who did not know
  what dioxins were
• Met with President of the World Bank
• Project stopped

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The Cement Industry and Toxic 2010

• Proposal to burn tyres and waste started in mid
  1990s with PPC Jupiter Plant.
• Resistance by civil society never went ahead.
• 1998 Danish government supported proposal to
  burn hazardous waste in cement kiln in Matola,
  Maputo.
• Global resistance stopped process.

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The Cement Industry and a Toxic 2010

• First environmental justice organisation in
  Mozambique born out of resistance Livaningo
  shedding of light.
• Back again with building boom!
• PPC, Holcim and NPC.
• Applications in all cement kilns except in one.
• Web of processes pushing cement kiln incineration
  centred around one person
• Kare Karstensen
• Advising GTZ and Holcim in Geneva and
• Advising the ASP process.

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Government knee jerk reaction!

• Since 2001 groundWork writing to the Ministry and
  Department to consider a legitimate, public
  process that will be able to inform South
  Africas strategy on managing hazardous waste
  rather than just allowing incineration.
• Failed to respond Cement industry saw loop hole
  started putting in EIAs for burning waste in
  2005.
• Now developing parallel to this an incineration
  policy process.
• Who is advising the South African government?
• Kare Karstensen!

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Government knee jerk reaction!

• DEATs own consultants (COWI) indicate that
  externalities of burning waste is E 40 (R400) and
  E21 (R210) is from emmissions this per tonne.
• If we incinerate 10 million tons of SA waste
  (half of SA waste) cost annually the cost to
  society (externalities) is E 400 000 000-00 / ZAR
  400 000 000-00.
• Cost of incinerator in Denmark is Euros 100 000
  000 / 280 000 tons per annum so to build an
  incinerator for 10 000 000 tons of waste?
• 3.5 Billion Euros for SA

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Government fails to act!

• Fight to close down Compass Waste Ixopo
  Incinerator 6 years.
• We presented evidence to government and in a
  legal setting.
• Stacks with holes in it, dumping of ash on
  community land and not in hazardous landfill
  site.
• We took ash, and soil samples.
• Levels of dioxins were USA EPA reference limits
  in the ash and in community soil adjacent to the
  incinerator.
• We gave evidence to government they did not get
  back to us, so the assumption is that the have
  failed act to remove the ash.

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So!

• Please ban incineration!
• Do a full and public assessment all waste streams
  in South Africa, i.e. what waste do we have, how
  much and its constituents.
• This was my last request to the NEAF.
• Then decide how we manage waste by having good
  information!

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Health Care Waste Do not ignore! Lindiwe
ManqeleuMthombo-Wesizwe

• Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on
  Environment and Tourism

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Who is Lindiwe Manqele?

• Director of uMthombo-Wesizwe
• Director and member of executive. committee of
  NAFU KZN.
• Nurse by professions.
• Worked in private and state institutions.

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What are the problems?

• Awareness and training
• Segregation
• Internal HCW management equipment
• Tendering and contracting
• Safety and Health
• Storage

• Transportation
• Record-keeping and Reporting
• Treatment facilities
• Disposal of residues
• Enforcement, permitting and monitoring
• Inadequate capacity of public agencies

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Lack of Municipal Services at a rural Clinic
outside Pietermaritzburg
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Numerous newspaper clippings have in recent years
been appearing in various regions concerning
health care waste being stored in residential
areas

• An attempt by The Star newspaper to help track
  down a family member led to the gruesome
  discovery of corpses stacked in industrial
  fridges in a residential area, while 80 tons of
  medical waste was removed from a house in
  Johannesburg.
• (Corpses and medical waste discarded in
  Gauteng residential area, The Star,
• August 10, 2000)

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• Residents of Discovery are irate over the
  storage of the waste in their neighbourhood by
  the ExecuMed Company.
• (Workers clear medical waste house of horrors
  The Star, August 8, 2000)

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• Amputated body parts, blood and other fluids,
  placentas, foetuses, and used syringes and
  scalpels are going missing and could end up in
  general waste-landfill sites around the country
• (Missing Medical Waste Poses Toxic Threat
  The Star, 2000)

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• Tygerberg Hospital in the Cape treated 48
  children with AZT after some were pricked with
  needles and others ate potentially lethal pills
  they found in a field in Elsies River
• (AZT For 48 Kids In Medical Waste Scare Cape
  Argus, September 16, 1999)

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Financial savings

• When hospital staff is trained to manage health
  care waste correctly.
• Edendale and Ngwelezane Hospital.
• March 2001, R74 593.28 (highest).
• March 2002, R39 941.74 (lowest).

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Legislative needs identified

• Regulations for registration of generators,
  transporters and treatment disposal facilities.
• Introduce a permitting system.
• Control import and export of waste.
• Authorities to prescribe reporting and record
  keeping.
• Information and awareness needs.
• Develop proper management protocols on resources
  (dumping expired equipment and medication).

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What we can do immediately!

• Ban incineration in Waste Management Bill.
• In KwaZulu-Natal only alternative technologies
  are used for treating health care waste
  incinerator free!
• Build a public/political awareness.
• Include medical / health care waste into the
  Waste Management Bill.
• Visit some of the hospitals and health care waste
  treatment facilities.

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Lindiwe Manqele

• 082 700 2219