Having read Mr Zack Douglas' letter regarding the proposed incinerator in Broga, I would agree with him that sustainable practices towards waste management should be introduced to communities threatened by the unhealthy effects of open dumpsites to the people and the environment.

However, I would like to deviate from his opinion that incineration would solve the garbage problem of Malaysia or it would protect the health of the Malaysians. I won't be surprised if Mr Douglas considers incineration as a cleaner alternative to landfills, but he should not forget that incinerators don't simply make waste disappear.

Incinerators produce a secondary waste stream more toxic than the original waste. For every three tons of garbage burnt in an incinerator, o­ne ton or o­ne-third of the waste will be reduced into ash which eventually will be disposed in a landfill and released to the air.

Heavy metals like mercury, cadmium are released as air emissions and end up in ash no matter how modern the pollution control equipments are. Incinerators are even considered as o­ne of the major dioxin sources. Even state-of-the art-incinerators emit dioxins and furans, which are among the most toxic man-made compounds ever created.

In the past years, incinerator proposals worldwide were cancelled and existing incinerators are being shut down not just because of growing community protests but also because governments have started to implement stringent rules with regards to emissions because of the dangers it pose. And what is so sustainable about thermal treatment of waste when eventually people will get sick? What is so sustainable about burning resources that can be recycled or reused?

Anti-incineration sentiments are getting stronger around the world. Communities who have experienced the environmental and health impacts of an obsolete facility, such as incinerators, are trying to dissuade Malaysians from committing the same mistake that their respective governments have made in the past.

The Payatas dumpsite collapse, which claimed more than 200 lives, happened because of the lack of proper waste management system in the Philippines - and not because of the absence of incinerators.

We should now start looking at the root cause of the problem. Instead of asking what we should do about the waste, we should start thinking of ways o­n how we could stop generating too much waste. Over consumption should be addressed.

Businesses should design products that are friendly to our environment, products that will not go to our landfills but brought back to the factories for reusing/redesigning. Not to forget the existence of alternatives like recycling and zero waste which have been proven feasible by many communities around the world.

Nature is a perfect system and we should learn from it.