Incinerators are facilities that treat waste by burning it and turning it into ashes, flue gas and heat,

they are also called “mass burn incinerators.” In Philippines, solid waste management remains a
major challenge especially in urban areas like Metro Manila. Inefficient waste management and
lack of disposal facilities are among the dominant concerns in the. In Japan, according to Jake
Sturmer only 1% of its waste end up in landfill because most of it are burned at one of the 1000+
incinerators in the country compared to Philippines where landfills are full and is condemned
unusable for 20 years (Rappler, 2017). Additionally, as stated by the ABC of Integrated Waste
Management (n.d) that for every ton of garbage incinerated it produces an estimated 500 kilowatts
of electrical energy. Therefore, it would be best for the Philippines to come up with a solution that
would solve the current waste problem in the country, thus waste incinerators should be used as it
will not only reduce the wastes but will also provide energy.
There are however negative effects in waste incineration. First, waste incineration is
expensive, as the costs of constructing the structures and operating the incineration plants are very
high. According to Seltenrich (2013), Incinerators are extremely expensive to build as large,
modern facilities in Europe cost $150 million to $230 million and to make a profit and repay
investors, incinerator operators need a guaranteed stream of waste. However, the cost for
incineration would be ineffectual due to equivalent amount of energy it would provide which could
be more expensive if not for incineration. Second, waste incineration pollutes the environment, as
the smoke it produces includes acid gases, carcinogen dioxin, particulates, heavy metals, and
nitrogen oxide. As claimed by Ashfaq (2012), these gases could cause global warming, formation
of photochemical smog, formation of acid rain, and the depletion of the ozone. But filters and
scrubbers are used to capture dioxins so that they won’t escape into the air. According to Waste
Incineration & Public Health (2000), fabric filters are widely used today in incineration facilities
and modern municipal solid-waste incinerators are equipped for particulate, acid gas, and in many
cases, dioxin and mercury removal. Third, ash waste from waste incineration can potentially harm
people and the environment, for the ash remains from waste incineration may contains a number
of poisons and heavy metals which may harm the public and the surrounding environment.
Although, these ashes potentially harm the surroundings, due to advancements in technology,
various equipment has been innovated to treat the incineration process to makes sure that the ash
wouldn’t be toxic and be environmentally safe.
The first major significance of incineration is waste management. Its approach
unquestionably makes waste management simpler and increasingly productive. As reported by
Regoli (2016), Incineration can burn up to 90% of the absolute waste produced in a picked region.
Moreover, landfills just encourage natural decomposition which doesn't do much and counterfeit
or nonorganic waste continues accumulating. Studies have demonstrated that solid waste
incinerators produce less pollution than landfills. A framework proposed by Kwak (2018), led
during a 1994 claim in the United States, showed that a waste incinerator site was more naturally
inviting or eco-friendly than equivalent landfill. The study found that the landfill discharged higher
amounts of greenhouse gases, ozone harming substances, hydrocarbons, non-methane natural
organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, nitrogen oxides and dioxin than an incinerator.
Landfills further drain risky compound into the underlying groundwater, which can contaminate
underground water frameworks. Additionally, according to Kwak (2018), major concern related
with burning solid waste was the release of dangerous compounds. In any case, present day
incineration plants use channels to trap hazardous gases and particulate matter like dioxin. Hence,
waste management is an easier approach that can diminish waste efficiently and which are more
environmentally friendly than landfills.
Next, incineration reduces the need for landfills. In a study conducted Ayres (2016), over
ninety five percent of landfills is vacated after waste incineration. In addition to that, according to
Levwis (2013), a recent statistical analysis predicts by the end of this century the world population
will hit 11 billion by the year 2100, by then, piles of rubbish and other waste may become
insurmountable. In the Philippines, despite the passage of the R.A 9003, the number of sanitary
landfills remains small. Furthermore as stated by Live Science (2010), landfills are not designed
to break down waste, only to store it, thus it potentially contribute to global warming. First world
countries had already used waste incineration as their system for waste management, an example
of this is Singapore. Due to its limited land, waste incineration able to reduce the volume of waste
being sent to their landfill, almost all of its solid waste shipped to a man-made island called Semaku
island nearby that doubles as a nature reserve (Geddie, 2018). Henceforth, waste incineration could
be a resolution to a forthcoming landfill problems in the country.

Another reason is that, waste incineration plants generate energy from waste. This energy
can be used to generate electricity or heat. As stated by Pyper (2011), there are currently waste-to-
energy facilities in United States of America, one example of this is the plant, built in 1988,
processes garbage of District of Columbia and Maryland. Heat from this high-temperature
incinerator, runs a generator that puts 23 megawatts of electricity back on the grid enough to power
20,000 homes. Also, according to the Energy Recovery Council (n.d), there are currently 86 waste-
to-energy facilities in the United States, they provide 2,700 MW of clean electricity in about 2
million homes. Due to modernization, the costs of energy since 1950s continuously increases,
pushing numerous countries sought to incorporate the energy and heat generated from garbage
incinerators for the production of electricity through steam turbines. Furthermore, Europe and
Japan have already incorporated incinerators. Sweden, for example, produces 8 percent of its
heating needs from 50 percent of the waste incinerated (Kwak, 2018). Therefore, waste-to-
energy incineration plants could be both a better system for waste management and for energy
production.

Energy Recovery Council’s Waste-to-Energy website. (n.d). Retrieved from

http://ledsgp.org/resource/energy- recovery-councils-waste-to-energy-
website/?loclang=en_gb
Pyper, J. (2011). Does burning garbage to produce electricity make sense? Retrieved from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-burning-garbage-to-produce-energy-
make-sense/
Kwak P. (2018). The Advantages of a Solid Waste incinerators. Retrieved from
https://sciencing.com/advantages-solid-waste-incinerator-8367212.html

Lewis, T. (2013). What 11 Billion People Mean for Sanitation. Retrieved from
https://www.livescience.com/41503-11-billion-people-sanitation.html

Minitry of Environment and Water Resources. (n.d). Space for waste is limited. Retrieved from
https://www.mewr.gov.sg/topic/incineration#targetText=SPACE%20FOR%20WASTE%
20IS%20LIMITED,being%20sent%20to%20our%20landfill.

Philippine News Agency. (2018). More engineered sanitary landfills seen to solve PH waste woes.
Retrieved from https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1034839

Geddie, J. (2018). In Singapore, where trash becomes ash, plastics are still a problem. Retrieved
from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-waste/in-singapore-where-trash-
becomes-ash-plastics-are-still-a-problem-idUSKCN1J20HX

Ayeres. (2018). The myth and the reality of energy recovery from municipal solid waste.
Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13705-018-0175-y

Rinkesh. (2019, June 10). Advantages and Disadvantages of Waste Incineration. Retrieved from
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-incineration.php

Burning Trash is no Stink. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.hometowndumpsterrental.com/blog/burning-trash-is-no-stink

National Research Council (US) Committee on Health Effects of Waste Incineration. (1970,
January 1). Understanding Health Effects of Incineration. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK233619/

Negative Impacts of Incineration-based Waste-to-Energy Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.alternative-energy-news.info/negative-impacts-waste-to-energy/

The arguments against incineration haven't changed. (2019, August 11). Retrieved from
https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/08/12/opinion/columnists/the-arguments-against-
incineration-havent-changed/598815/

Incineration Versus Recycling: In Europe, A Debate Over Trash. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://e360.yale.edu/features/incineration_versus_recycling__in_europe_a_debate_over_trash

Cost of incineration plant. (2018, February 20). Retrieved from

https://wteinternational.com/cost-of-incineration-plant/
Eco, T. is. (n.d.). What happens to Waste to Energy Incineration Ash? Retrieved from
https://www.thisiseco.co.uk/news_and_blog/what-happens-to-waste-to-energy-incineration-
ash.html