From the Global Allliance for Incinerator Alternatives: Zero waste for a sustainable future

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 15 – Zero Waste is an achievable goal whose day has come, as communities around the world take action to end waste disposal in incinerators, dumps and landfills. But Rio+20 will show that Zero Waste is also a revolution in the relationship between waste and people.

Before and during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development an international delegation will call for shifts in production, consumption and disposal to address one of the planet’s most serious environmental challenges – the take-make-waste system that is harming the planet, communities and public health.

“Burning and burying our garbage is a primitive technology that has no place in the sustainable economy of the future,” said Mariel Vilella, GAIA’s campaigner.

“Incinerators and dumps emit greenhouse gas emissions, waste valuable resources, endanger our health and threaten communities’ way of life,” she said. “Reusing, repairing, recycling and composting our waste saves money, creates jobs and protects people and the environment from the buildup of hazardous chemicals,” said Silvio Ruiz, from the Global Alliance of Wastepickers.