Date:12th
Dec 2003
WWF –
P Shows Concern over Establishment
of Waste to Energy Plants .
Lahore, Pakistan – WWF –
Pakistan expresses a sense of alarm
on City District Government Lahore’s
(CDGL) efforts to install two Waste-To-Energy
plants in Lahore to dispose off
municipal solid waste in collaboration
with a Chinese and American company.
Installation of burn technology
Waste To Energy projects in Lahore
is surprising at a time when world
over it has become outdated. This
is a classic case of dumping dirty
dumping technology in the developing
country like Pakistan.
CDGL intends to privatize
its Municipal Solid Waste management
system. Adverts have appeared in
the past to support this move inviting
expression of interest for establishing
composting plants. Two Letters of
Initiation were also issued to companies
to establish composting plants in
the city. Another recent development
is support provided by CDG to another
company wanting to set up a Waste-To-Energy
(WTE) plant.
The sustainable alternative
is composting which is environmental
friendly, as Lahore’s waste
has high moisture content, low inorganic
content and calorific value making
it unfit for incineration and generation
of electricity. Waste Incineration
from WTE plants leads to toxics
emissions, food chain poisoning,
global warming and disastrous consequences
for health. WTE is another name
for incinerator like plasma arc
and gasification is a highly polluting
and unsustainable technology.
The above concerns
have also been raised to the provincial
minister of environment with a plea
to stop introduction of such obsolete
technologies in the country. The
Minister has agreed to look into
the matter and provide a sustainable
solution to the problem.
Such plants are being
closed in developing countries since
waste is used as raw material, indirectly
promoting generation of more waste
instead of promoting 3 R’s
(Reduce, reuse and recycle). Material
present in our waste stream which
is being reused, recycled and composted
will be burnt. This would be detrimental
for the cottage recycling industry.
“The waste
management authorities should look
for technologies which are viable,
labour intensive and have been working
effectively to convert cities to
zero waste instead of wasting time
on burn based technologies. There
is no need for DIRTY OLD POLLUTING
technologies to manage waste, whether
it is a GRANT or an INVESTMENT”,
remarked Hammad Naqi Khan, Director
Environmental Pollution Unit, WWF
– P.
For
further information:
Hammad Naqi Khan
WWF – Pakistan
Ferozepur Road, Lahore.
Tel: +92 42 5862360, 5869429
Fax: 042 5862358
epu@wwf.org.pk
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