“They can call it anything they like,” said Liz Benneian, “but the bottom line is it’s all still using fossil fuels to burn things that, in fact, could mostly be reused and recycled.
“Incineration, by any other name, still stinks.”
Benneian, president of Oakvillegreen Conservation Association, knows incineration all too well. In 2008, her grassroots environmental group successfully fought an $800 million dollar incinerator in Halton Region.
She recently spoke to a group of over 25 concerned citizens of Brantford and Brant County at a community meeting to discuss incineration organized by Sustainable Brant. The meeting was planned in response to Section 5.6 in Brant County’s Official Plan, which states the county will consider “energy from waste” programs and be open to “public/private waste to energy projects.”
Several county councillors were outraged by the flyer and meeting, calling it premature and without any basis of evidence.
Benneian disagreed.
In addition to citing stories and photo opps in the local press, she pointed out that in her experience with city councils, one can never be too early.
“Whenever I’m fighting any kind of battle and it doesn’t matter what that battle is about, [council] always tells me it’s too early,” she said.
“If you don’t get in there right at the start, it’s too late. [The incinerator companies] are in there already. The public needs to be in there too.”
On May 20, 2009 a story appeared in Brant News detailing the county’s plan to move forward on a Green Energy project with Renewable Energy Management and Entech (REM-TECH).
David Johnston, director of development services at the County of Brant, was in attendance at the recent meeting. He said that while REM-TECH has expressed interest in locating in the county, the county has not been in contact with the company in almost a year.
At present, REM-TECH lists Brant County’s Green Energy Hub initiative as “current project” on its website.
Though Brant County council has denied its intent to move forward with the project, REM-TECH’s website states it has “community support from Mayor Ron Eddy and Councillors, Brant MPP Dave Levac, Brantford – Brant Chamber of Commerce and Brant County Power.”
“The proposed facility is designed to maximize recycling efforts by recovering all recycling materials and converting the remaining residual waste into clean renewable energy utilizing the ENTECH WtGAS™ - Advanced Conversion Technology,” the site goes on to state.
According to REM-TECH, the project is to be located at the corner of Oak Park Road and Powerline Road and is currently “in the environmental assessment, planning and permitting phase of development.”
Despite claims that advanced technology has made incineration a responsible alternative to landfilling, Benneian still has her concerns.
“Material doesn’t disappear – it just turns into something else.”
Chemical reactions occur when things mix, Benneian says. Dioxins, mercury, arsenic and fly ash are released, all of which can cause adverse health effects to humans and animals. In addition, incinerators don’t achieve everything they promise.
“These things are energy wasters, not energy generators,” she said. “They always take more in than they give out.”
At the end of the day, when it comes to managing our waste, Benneian says we’re asking the wrong questions.
Instead of spending millions of dollars on a waste solution, she believes municipalities should start looking at ways to reduce waste at the source. These include putting an end to overpackaging, ramping up recycling programs, and promoting composting at the municipal level.
“It’s not incineration versus landfill,” she said. “The real question is, why are we making so much [garbage] in the first place?”
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