Civil society organizations call on World Bank to cancel financing for Indian waste incinerators

29 Aug 2024 --- A collective letter signed by 174 civil society organizations is demanding the World Bank rejects financing for four waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators planned for construction in Gujarat, India, by waste management company Abellon Clean Energy Limited (ACEL).

The letter’s signatories include the Centre for Financial Accountability, the International Accountability Project, the National Hawkers Federation, GAIA-Asia Pacific, Break Free From Plastics and numerous regional and global networks and activists.

ACEL’s WTE incineration plants will have a cumulative capacity of 52.20 MW. The letter highlights the projects’ human and environmental implications, including air and water pollution and associated disease rates. 

The groups also say that consultations held by the International Finance Council (IFC) and ACEL were “majorly” flawed and that the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessments violated both IFC Performance Standards and Indian environmental laws. 

To circumvent the Government of India’s (GOI’s) environmental norms, the WTE incineration project size was deliberately kept at 14.9 MW instead of 15 MW, to escape the Environmental Clearance (EC) mandated by the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) rules of 2006. 

Consequently, despite being considered a “red category” project in India for its large environmental and social risks, this project has been given a lower risk rating of “Category B” by the IFC.

“The diluted and flawed environment and social impact assessment by IFC for these toxic WTE incinerators that contribute to excessive pollution and are linked to fossil fuels indicates that IFC has not been compliant to its safeguards and also to the Paris Agreement,” says Vaishnavi Varadarajan of the International Accountability Project. 

Project problems 

The signatory organizations say ACEL’s operational WTE incineration plant in Jamnagar has already demonstrated significant negative impacts on the 25,000 people living in its vicinity who suffer from air pollution, noise pollution and health problems such as skin ailments, asthma and eye irritation. 

Residents from Navagam village impacted by the WTE incinerator plant in Jamnagar protesting at the District Collector’s office.“The local communities are thus concerned about the expansion of the incinerator plant through this project. “Initially,     we were told that all the waste would be converted into electricity, but after the operations started, there was a lot of pollution and bad odor from the plant,” shares Ker Jayendrasinh, who has been supporting the local communities in Jamnagar.

“We have complained to the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, the Municipal Commissioner, and the District Collector but still, the communities continue to suffer. A further expansion of the plant will only increase the pollution and is unacceptable to us.”

Waste worker threats 

The planned WTE incinerator plants also threaten the livelihood of waste workers. Large quantities of waste in the project sites will be directed to the incinerators, affecting the informal economy of waste picking and recycling. 

Jay Vyas, National Hawkers Federation, states: “The situation in Jamnagar where there are no waste workers at the dump sites confirms that waste workers who belong to vulnerable Indigenous and Dalit communities will lose their livelihood because of these incinerators.”

“Also, waste worker unions in Gujarat confirmed to us that waste workers were not consulted at the project sites by the company.” 

Besides the community impacts and environmental and social concerns, the poor financial performance of WTE incineration plants in India also “casts a shadow” over the viability of ACEL’s projects and their potential economic burden on local governments. The letter states that a report by the Centre for Financial Accountability revealed how, despite strong policy and financial support, WTE incinerators in India have failed. 

Chythenyen D. Kulasekaran, from the Centre for Financial Accountability, says, “WTEs make profits on the shoulder of the public funds in the form of subsidies and grants they receive. Yet, WTEs produce the costliest form of electricity at about 7 rupees per unit, which the government pays. There is a double burden on the state exchequer.”

WTE incinerators are a “false solution,” contributing to pollution that exacerbates the climate crisis. The proposed WTE incineration plants will cumulatively burn about 3,750 tons of garbage every day and generate CO2 equivalent to the emissions from about 187,500 cars. 

“WTE incinerators are poised to become the most carbon-intensive power source once coal is phased out. Burning a tonne of plastic waste alone results in the release of around 1.43 tonnes of CO2. It destroys recycling, reuse, and refill options and disincentives reduction of producing new materials so less will have to be managed as wastes,” says Miriam Mayang Azurin, GAIA.

“In light of these findings, we urge the World Bank to not only reject this project but to cease all funding for waste-to-energy initiatives, prioritizing environmental protection and community well-being over unsustainable energy solutions.”

By Louis Gore-Langton