PRESS RELEASE - 28 May, 2003

INCINERATION NOT THE ANSWER says US CLEAN PRODUCTION EXPERT
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Prof Ken Guiser, Lowell University Mass., US., & Director of Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI) today told how the implementation of the Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) meant that 3 commercial hazardous waste incinerators planned for the Massachusetts area did not need to proceed.

Prof Guiser told how community resistance to the siting of hazardous waste incinerators since the early 1980’s lead firstly to the 1983 Massachusetts Right to Know Act, and then to the Toxics Use Reduction Campaign which began in 1986. This campaign resulted in the 1989 Toxics Use Reduction Act, which was the first such legislation to be adopted in the US. Since its enactment in Massachusetts, over 12 other states have followed suit with similar legislation.

Prof Guiser explained how the TURA act Focuses on
? Prevention rather than Control of hazardous waste production
? Chemical Use rather than Chemical Release
? Cooperation, rather than Regulation

He outlined how, since the implementation of the Toxic Use Reduction Act, hazardous waste generation has been reduced by 58%, during a period when production grew by 49%. Participating companies included such US and global giants as Polaroid, Digital, AT&T, Monsanto.

CHASE Chairperson, Mary O’Leary, welcomed Prof Guiser and said “This is exactly the message that Irish authorities need to hear. It is proof that incineration is not the solution to our hazardous waste problem. It is quite clear that Toxic Reduction is the more sensible, more economically sound, and more competitive option.”

Prof Guiser is involved in a series of meetings and seminars in Cork during the week and will give at a public presentation in the Imperial Hotel, Cork at 8.00pm on Wednesday 28 May.

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Toxics use reduction means in plant changes in production, processes or raw materials that reduce, avoid, or eliminate the use of toxic or hazardous substances or generation of hazardous by products per unit of product so as to reduce risks to the health of workers, consumers, or the environment, without shifting the risks between workers, consumers, or parts of the environment. Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Law