What is incineration? What is the status of incineration in the Philippines?

Is it prohibited or
allowed by the government regulation?

Responding to climate change is the main environmental challenge of this era. With the
increase of urbanization, overpopulation, commercialization, social and economic growth, and
other issues, waste management has become more and more complicated. Management of waste,
however, is the complete process of handling, processing, transporting, storing, recycling and
disposing of human, industrial and environmental waste. Incineration is one of the treatment
processes that involve the burning of organic substance contained in waste. By massively
increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the earth’s atmosphere, the modern industry has
undergone a huge revolution, which has had a significant impact on the global climate system.
The fragility of the system, financial constraints, and public attitudes towards waste management
make the problem even worse. It is a global phenomenon, but its consequences are more
prominent in developing countries.

After passing two landmark laws nearly 20 years ago, the Philippines is the first and so far
the only country in the world to ban incineration [Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 and the
Ecological Solids Act of 2000 Waste Management Law]. Incinerators are facilities for burning
waste at high temperatures, releasing various types of toxic substances around the air. Larracas
states that “incineration was not the solution for managing wastes as the process itself can
transform pollutants into another problem”. Burning of organic substance can contribute to
global warming caused by the production of the heat-trapping nature of green houses. Increasing
carbon dioxide emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels, vehicle, vehicle pollution,
deforestation, animal husbandry, and land use are some of the human activities that lead to
climate change.

Large number of Local Government Units (LGU) is unable to provide funds for waste
management programs. This only proves that the incineration process we rely on past 20 years
ago was indeed one of the major contributors to climate change, thus, the banning of law avoids
unnecessary facilities cost and may help to slow the global warming. Philippines strives to
improve its solid waste management through RA 9003 or the “Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act”, which provides proper waste management plans to prioritize the general
welfare in terms of health and safeguarding the environment. The people and the responsible
sectors should be accountable with their actions in regards with managing wastes since
prevention is much more reasonable before reduction. For instance, reusing the product or
recycling it for other purposes will promotes cleanliness of environment, reduce the amount of
pollutants sent to incinerators and prevents other pollution to reduce the necessity of acquiring
new raw materials were only few of the many benefits of it.
 Waste policies have climate change impacts, on the other hand, emissions savings through
waste prevention or recycling, and methane emissions from landfills. In climate perspective,
proper waste segregation is the most beneficial option, followed by the recycling while
incineration is the worst solution to handle waste. The Environmental Protection Association
(EPA) has established several method of waste disposal. The strategy is formulated by the
private sector while keeping the long-term vision in mind. Also began to use new advanced
technologies to process and dispose of solid waste. The concept of ordinary waste treatment is
encouraged and promoted because it uses waste as a resource as a material or co-fuel in
manufacturing processes. To control climate change and maintain a healthy environment on the
earth, it is necessary to control the human influence on it.

REERENCES:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-monroe-environmentalbiology/chapter/15-2-waste-
management-strategies/
https://www.no-burn.org/incineration-not-a-solution-green-groups-wan-western-brands-
found-polluting-the-philippines/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK233619/