Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 3: The politics of wasteIndustrial incineration proposals were also rolling in. In 2002, groundWork documented16 such proposals. Several were backed by the US Trade and Development Agency(TDA) or by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lendingarm of the World Bank, looking for expansion opportunities for Northern corporationsas their technologies ran into opposition on their home ground.Sydney Saunders’ company, Peacock Bay Environmental Services, decided that thetime was ripe to try its luck again in 2001 – a decade after its west coast incineratorproposal was shot down. In partnership with a US corporation, Peacock Bay proposeda large hazardous waste incinerator for Sasolburg. The proposal was funded by the USTDA and supported by South Africa’s own DTI who appeared to be interested notonly in ‘technology transfer’ but also in making money from importing waste. Whenchallenged to explicitly state its position on toxic waste imports, DTI refused comment.The Sasolburg Air Quality Monitoring Committee, with support from groundWorkand the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA), opposed the project and won thesupport of the local municipal council. The Free State provincial authority then tookthe rare step of rejecting the EIA. The local council’s opposition appeared decisivebut the Record of Decision also cited the EIA’s failure to address health risks and theimpact on cumulative emissions in the already polluted town.In south Durban, Mondi proposed its ‘multi-fuel burner’ designed to burn coal,together with ash and pulp wastes and, in the view of SDCEA, any other rubbish thatMondi might conveniently throw into it. This 2002 proposal followed an earlier Mondiproposal instigated by the IFC for burning briquettes made from general waste. Whenchallenged, the IFC could not answer questions on dioxin emissions and how theywould be monitored and the World Bank killed the project. The new project, whichMondi claimed reduced the use of dirty fuels in south Durban, was given fast-trackapproval by the provincial environmental authority. SDCEA challenged the decision incourt, demanding a full EIA. This was granted but provided only temporary relief. In2005, the Record of Decision for the full EIA again approved the project. It imposed amuch deeper cut in sulphur dioxide emissions from the plant than previously requiredbut did not meet SDCEA’s concerns relating to dioxins.In Richards Bay, the US DTA also stumped up funding for the feasibility study onan energy from waste plant proposed by Rainbow Millenium Power in 2003. Despiteofficial backing, the plan appears to have stalled in the context of Eskom’s cheap powerregime. The electricity supply crisis of 2008 has given it new life. Rainbow MilleniumWasting the Nation - groundWork - 65 -