Stop the Durham Region Incinerator
- by: Durham Environment Watch
- recipient: Durham Region Council and Staff, and all 8 Durham Region Municipalities and the Province of Ontario
As municipalities determine the costs associated with their disposal options, it is important that they consider the health and social costs associated with the pollution from incineration facilities. More specifically, these costs would include the cost of global warming, acid rain, and an increase in chemicals in our air, land and water associated with emissions of certain pollutants to the atmosphere and to waterways, including Lake Ontario. The increased likelihood of adverse impacts on human health associated with cumulative air pollution emissions and the release of toxic substances to the environment also carry a cost.
We urge Durham Region to continue to enhance its already substantial waste diversion efforts and develop a true zero waste plan to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste is a way of thinking about, designing, and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of materials and thus waste, to conserve and recover all resources, and to ensure resources are neither burned nor buried. Incineration is the destruction of resources, not recovery.
Please visit Durham Environment Watch for more information.
We the undersigned, do not support the development of mass burn waste incinerators (Energy From Waste) or other combustion technology to process Durham and York Region's waste. We believe incineration is unsustainable, destroys resources and carries unacceptable risk in the areas of health, environment and financial costs.
As municipalities determine the costs associated with their disposal options, it is important that they consider the health and social costs associated with the pollution from incineration facilities. More specifically, these costs would include the cost of global warming, acid rain, and an increase in chemicals in our air, land and water associated with emissions of certain pollutants to the atmosphere and to waterways, including Lake Ontario. The increased likelihood of adverse impacts on human health associated with cumulative air pollution emissions and the release of toxic substances to the environment also carry a cost.
We urge Durham Region to continue to enhance its already substantial waste diversion efforts and develop a true zero waste plan to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste is a way of thinking about, designing, and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of materials and thus waste, to conserve and recover all resources, and to ensure resources are neither burned nor buried. Incineration is the destruction of resources, not recovery.
As we move closer to our zero waste goals, the inflexibility of incineration will force us to import waste from other regions, adding to our already overburdened airshed.
Please take a serious look at alternatives instead of moving ahead with plans to build a MSW incinerator in Durham Region.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our appeal.
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