REPRESSION OF

CONFLICTS WITH

THE CEMENT INDUSTRY

Mariel Vilella

Zero Waste Europe/GAIA

Brussels, 2nd March 2015

The case

of Mexico

GAIA: INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOUNDED IN 2000 TO END

ALL FORMS OF WASTE INCINERATION AND PROMOTE ZERO

WASTE ALTERNATIVES

Our ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world, and an economy where all products

are reused, repaired or recycled back into the marketplace or nature.

WASTE: THE TOP OF THE ICEBERG

- Cement industry burns “alternative fuels”: industrial waste, municipal solid waste, used tires, plastic, and biomass such as wood waste, recycled paper, textiles, agricultural waste etc.

BEYOND FOSSIL FUELS:

WASTE AS THE “NEW COAL”?

- Amount of ‘alternative fuels’ being

burnt in cement kilns has increased

x5 times, and it’s expected to

continue rising.

- It’s a global trend with important

advantages for the cement industry

and devastating effects for

communities and ecosystems.

Source: Cement Sustainability Initiative, Cement Industry

Energy and CO2 Performance “Getting the Numbers Right”,

2009.

Economical reasons:

Reduce impact from economical recession in the cement sector.

Ex.: Spain, 2013: cement consumption went down 40%.

http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2013/04/17/agencias/1366197735_701260.html

Reduce costs associated to fossil fuels involved in cement production.

Coal, pet coke and other traditional fossil fuels required in cement production become a major cost.

Profit from burning waste.

Cement companies present themselves as high -technology service providers to incinerate waste and take the public budget that cities have for that.

Green-washing reasons and PR:

As cement companies are major contributors to climate change, they call waste an alternative fuel to fossil fuels and pretend they are reducing their climate change emissions.

WHY IS CEMENT INDUSTRY INTERESTED

IN WASTE

IMPACTED COMMUNITIES BY CEMENT INDUSTRY

START TAKING ACTION

NATIONAL SPANISH NETWORK

AGAINST WASTE INCINERATION IN

CEMENT KILNS AND FOR CLEAN AIR

Active since 2009

SPAIN: 10 ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVELY OPPOSING

WASTE INCINERATION IN CEMENT PLANTS

EKO KROG – SLOVENIA:

10-YEAR LONG FIGHT AGAINST LAFARGE

NOVEMBER 2014: FIRST EUROPEAN GATHERING OF GROUPS

FIGHTING WASTE INCINERATION IN CEMENT KILNS

Campaigns against waste incineration in cement plants in

Italy, UK, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Bulgaria…

http://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/2014/11/european-gathering-against-waste-incineration-in-cement-kilns/

CONCRETE TROUBLES

A report on the emissions from Cement Plants in India and a critique of the ongoing co-incineration

of Hazardous Wastes in the Cement Industries

Global Anti Incineration Alliance (GAIA) – India &

Community Environmental Monitoring, The Other Media

January 2014

REPORT: CONCRETE TROUBLES IN INDIA

JANUARY 2014

Lafarge, Holcim and Cemex in

partnership with GIZ –

Development Agency in Germany

– promoting waste incineration

in cement kilns in India.

Evidence found about

exceedingly high levels of heavy

metals and carcinogenic

emissions.

Community environmental

Monitoring bringing forward a

petition to the Green National

Court.

Case study: “From Bordo Poniente to CEMEX: the CDM’s support for waste incineration in cement factories”, 2013.

Local resistance to waste incineration in CEMEX cement plant concludes with obligation to stop burning waste.

Jorge Tadeo Vargas, from Colectivo Revuelta Verde and GAIA starts receiving calls, threats, stalking, etc.

Measures: calls for international solidarity and other protection measures.

HUICHAPAN (MEXICO) - VICTORY AND REPRESSION

Mexico, along with Brazil , Cambodia, Guatemala and Peru are the countries with the highest number of threats and attacks against human rights defenders and communities recorded. Source: CEMDA, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental , according to Report of the Special Rapporteur on

the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya

2013: Ley del Mecanismo de Protección para Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas

Since 2013, 117 people request protection, 20 of them in relation to waste issues, and 4 related to cement plants.

First step: risk analysis and protection application measures depending on the level of risk. Presence of police at home; lower the profile of activities and stop visiting

communities.

Limitation: the Law cannot protect the criminalization of activists.

MEXICO: AMONGST THE 5 MOST VIOLENT COUNTRIES

FOR COMMUNIT Y ACTIVISTS.

MEXICO, NOVEMBER – 2013:

CREATION OF THE NET WORK OF COMMUNITIES IMPACTED BY

THE CEMENT INDUSTRY

http://www.no-burn.org/pronunciamiento-del-frente-de-comunidades-en-

contra-de-la-incineracion-en-mexico

Pollution and resource exploitation are the result of injustice

Those at the frontline are the first defenders of our common

air, water, land, food.

They are usually the most vulnerable and facing the worst

repression.

Environmental justice starts when we bring the frontlines to

the forefront as a core principle in all our work.

CONCLUSION:

BRING THE FRONTLINES TO THE FOREFRONT

THANKS!

mariel@no-burn.org

www.no-burn.org

www.zerowasteeurope.eu

RDF: 31 % plastic, 13 %

paper and cardboard, 12

% wood, 14 % textiles

and 30% other

materiales. Source: Puig, Fabra, Calaf, La

puerta de atrás de la

incineración de residuos , 2012.

Materials that end up

RDF could be reused,

recycled, or the products

should be redesigned to

do so."

REFUSE-DERIVED FUEL IS MADE OF

REUSABLE AND RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

1. The cement industry emits around

4-6% of global human-related

carbon emissions.

2. Cemex, Holcim, Lafarge,

Heidelberg - included in the

Carbon Majors list.

Carbon Majors – 63 percent of

the carbon dioxide and methane

emitted between 1751 and 2010

to just 90 entities.

www.carbonmajors.org. Tracing

anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane

emissions to fossi l fuel and cement

producers, 1854-2010: Climat ic Change,

online 21 November 2013.

GHG EMISSIONS FROM THE CEMENT INDUSTRY

REPORT: CEMENT, WASTE AND CLIMATE CHANGE.

PROBLEMS RELATED TO WASTE INCINERATION IN CEMENT

KILNS UNDER THE EU ETS.

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/consultations/articles/001

7/organisations/global_3_en.pdf

The cement industry is one

of the sectors most

benefited from the

oversupply of carbon

allowances. This has given

windfall profits to this

industry.

Source: Carbon Fat Cats 2011, Sandbag ,

www.carbonfatcats.eu

Carbon Fat Cats 2011

Difficulties to build new incinerators

Increasing offer of Refuse-

Derived Fuel

Profits made by cement industry

to burn waste as a service to municipalities

Misguidance of climate

policies

Loopholes in accounting

of biomass/wa

ste incineration emissions

Price increase in

conventional fossil fuels

Increased pressure over

burning waste as an

a l ternat ive to foss i l fuel .

THE INCREASING USE OF WASTE

AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL TO FOSSIL FUELS

Devastating consequences:

Environment. health and economy of frontline impacted communities.

Global implications: for example in food security.

EXPERT FROM WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

DIRECTLY RELATES CEMENT PLANT EMISSIONS

IN MONTCADA (BARCELONA) TO CANCER RATES

Montcada, Barcelona, Spain – 17th October, 2014