Under the slogan “Activists against incineration and in favor of Zero Waste programs”, environmental activists from Mesoamerica, Chile and the US met to coordinate regional strategies against waste incineration practices and in favor of the promotion of zero waste programs.

The meeting was organized by CESTA /Friends of the Earth El Salvador and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA). One of its aims is to share the experiences of activists from different countries in their struggles against incineration companies, such as Holcim, aiming to unify strategies to stop these practices, since these companies, in their efforts to lower costs by burning waste and even generating more profits by incinerating materials that are difficult to dispose of, generate serious impacts on the health of people and pollute the environment.

This is what Ricardo Navarro, of CESTA/ Friends of the Earth, said in an interview with Real World Radio. He added that 40 people from Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico the US and Chile, from social organizations, municipalities, recycling networks and academics, among others, participated in the meeting. The organizations that were part of the event are members of GAIA, a global alliance made up of over 600 social groups, non governmental organizations and individuals from 89 countries who work for a fair world, free from incineration.

In the interview from El Salvador, Navarro said that free trade agreements, such as the one between the US and Mesoamerica, facilitate the transfer of toxic waste from the North to the South, which is denounced by GAIA and Friends of the Earth International.

Another aim of the meeting is to share experiences related to the promotion of zero waste programs that are implemented by different environmental groups of the region. The meeting will focus on regional strategies to strengthen the resistance of communities against cement companies abuses and incineration projects, and to take the cases of human rights violations by cement companies to national and international courts.