Title: Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns. - Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Headings: Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns.
Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns.
Plastic Pollution Solutions:
Zero Waste + Redesign

Content: Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns. - Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns. Plastic waste constitutes between 60% and 80% of marine debris and is “one of the world’s most pervasive pollution problems impacting our oceans and waterways,” according to the U.N.
Over the past 60 years, plastics production and waste have dramatically increased, part of a global waste crisis whose drivers have included rapid urbanization, increasing consumption in both high- and low-income countries, and increased production of “throw-away” products. Indeed, the vast majority of plastics are not recycled at the end of their useful life, ensuring that this multiplication in production results in multiplication of harmful waste. From raw material extraction through to plastic polluting the ocean, plastics represent the failure of a predominantly fossil fuel based, linear economic system. A problem this complex and embedded in our societies and economies requires solutions that address the cross-sector nature of the problem and are built upon sustainable and environmentally just frameworks that deliver permanent solutions and the deep changes we need. For those new to waste issues, incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, and plasma arc may appear appealing. But our network’s experiences in countries around the world have shown that these approaches are at best a distraction from real solutions, and at worst a source of serious climate and toxic pollution.