Manuel Gómez Moreno is a spokesperson for the Anti-Incineration Platform of Montcada i Reixac in Catalonia. They work with the Catalan Organization Against Incineration, the Federal Organization Against Incineration, and the World Organization Against Incineration. They also participate in different Zero Waste groups.
“The Platform was founded in 2006 when we found out that the ACA (Catalan Agency of Water) and cement factories formed an agreement to burn wastewater treatment sludge at cement plants, giving them 19 Euros for each ton burned.”
“There are more and more groups and people recognizing the problem of incineration as a serious health issue.” “The message is clear, either they get involved or they’ll end up with a destroyed, black Earth.”
“We hope that the Supreme Court rules in our favor to close the cement factory that sits 100 meters from our homes.”
What’s the most important environmental issue right now for Spain and for the planet in general?
The main environmental problem that Spain has isn’t just one thing, it’s many things. One of the main issues is that companies are only interested in their own benefit, without considering the health of the planet or of its people.
For me, the most serious problem of all is that people don’t mobilize to change the situation.
And on a planetary level, it would be global warming and the danger of permafrost thawing, which would cause global warming to become irreversible, permanently changing the lives of humans on the planet.
And all of this is exacerbated by our capitalist system that’s governed by big multinational corporations who are only looking out for their own interest.
How do you see the future of the incineration industry in Spain?
Incineration isn’t an industry, it’s the worst way to get rid of the waste we generate. If that waste isn’t reused it contaminates the entire planet.
What is the administration’s attitude with respect to waste incineration? Has it changed at all in the past few years?
The administration’s approach to incineration is to publicly subsidize it through allotments of CO2 output, at the cost of millions of Euros per year to continue to do the same.
What has changed is that more and more groups and people are recognizing the problem of incineration as a serious health issue.
“The administration’s approach to incineration is to publicly subsidize it through allotments of CO2 output, at the cost of millions of Euros per year.”
Manuel Gómez Moreno
What are you working on lately?
We recently won our third case at the Catalonia Superior Court of Justice. Right now, we’re waiting for the definitive resolution from the Supreme Court, and we hope that they rule in our favor to close the cement factory that sits 100 meters from our homes.
How has your journey been from the organization’s beginning to today?
Our journey has been a constant, torturous process that’s had us working constantly for 15 years speaking out against waste burning; (protests, rallies, public complaints, conferences, demonstrations, voicing complaints in newspapers, magazines, television, etc.). On this journey, we’ve come across colleagues from Catalonia, from all over Spain, Europe, and the whole world who we’ve organized with to end this ecological disaster we call incineration.
From your experience, what is the message you send to young people so that they contribute to the change for environmental protection?
The message is clear. Either they get involved in creating a change of how we produce goods, or they’ll end up with a destroyed, black Earth, fighting amongst themselves to survive.
What change would you like to see after so many years of fighting for the environment?
We’d like to see them knock down the cement factory that we have in Montcada i Reixac.
Translator: Zach Beacher
