GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
Government’s Incineration Ban - First Step in Right Direction
Auckland, Monday 17 November, 2003: Greenpeace International senior scientist Pat Costner supports the Ministry for the
Environment’s (MFE) proposed ban on high temperature hazardous waste incineration but believes it doesn’t go far enough.
“This is a great first step for the NZ Government to take, but it’s just the beginning. There’s a real opportunity for
NZ to be at the forefront of international moves to ban this dangerous and outdated technology,” said Ms Costner.
“All incineration releases dangerous dioxins. Dioxins cause cancers, birth defects and endometriosis. The Government
must go further and ban all incineration including phasing out the dinosaurs that are currently polluting the
environment.
“Banning this obsolete technology will go a long way to protecting the health of New Zealand, now and for future
generations,” said Ms Costner.
Incineration excluded from the proposed ban includes school and municipal waste, including ‘waste to energy’ electricity
generation. Greenpeace believes burning school waste and municipal waste must be quickly phased out and non-toxic
alternatives sought.
After 20 years of working on this issue Ms Costner is considered an international expert on incineration, dioxin sources
and non-incineration technologies for waste disposal and destruction.
For more information contact:
Greenpeace Communications Officer Suzette Jackson 09 630 6317 ext: 849 or 021 577 556 Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner
Carmen Gravatt 09 630 6317 ext: 325 or 021 302 251
* Pat Costner will be available for media interviews from the 13 – 18th November by arrangement.