Environmental groups on Tuesday called on the new set of City Council members of Dumaguete City to shut down the pyrolysis incinerator amid a “looming public health crisis.”
During a press conference here, the groups presented a report on the findings of a study on the dangers of the pyrolysis incinerator at the City’s Central Materials Recovery Facility.
The community-led air quality monitoring study showed “dangerously high levels of air pollution,” which the groups said originated from the pyrolysis incinerator located at the MRF in the outskirts of barangay Candauay.
Pyrolysis is the process of thermal decomposition that breaks down organic materials at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. This method is used to convert materials into gaseous, liquid, and solid components, which can then be used as fuel or further processed.
Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, an international expert who has worked with several global organizations on environmental concerns, during his presentation highlighted the need for an immediate stoppage of the pyrolysis gasification machine, as thousands of residents in Dumaguete and some parts of the nearby towns of Valencia and Sibulan are at risk from harmful toxins.
These toxic pollutants from incinerators include dioxins, heavy metals, acid gases, and semi-volatile organic compounds.
“Although we could not measure other pollutants because of the cost, in every test I conducted of pyrolysis, gasification, and other incineration technologies, these other toxic pollutants were also always present,” Emmanuel said.
He explained that a study showed dangerously high levels of particulate matter from the pyrolysis incinerator, which operates at least nine hours each day.
The pyrolysis machine has been in operation since 2022, and burns waste from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week.
Emmanuel, a former UN chief technical advisor on the environment, led the researchers who used the AirBeam3, a portable air monitoring technology provided by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
Seventeen community volunteers wore the devices around their necks for nine to 10 days each between October 2024 and February 2025, he said.
During that period, research data showed that PM 2.5 concentrations exceeded the World Health Organization’s 24-hour air quality guideline in 88 percent of monitoring days.
PM 2.5 – microscopic particles from the burning of waste – are dangerous pollutants that could result in severe asthma, lung disease, cardiovascular illness, and premature death.
Many of these pollutants are invisible, odorless, and persist in the environment for many years, with health effects that may not surface until much later.
Merci Ferrer of War on Waste-Negros Oriental, said the “surrounding community of the MRF facility has been complaining of constant coughs and fatigue, and the report confirms those experiences with hard data.”
Ferrer is urging more barangays in the City to engage in Zero-Waste practices, such as the establishment of MRFs, and educating households to undertake garbage segregation at source.
So far, Barangays Looc, Bantayan, Piapi, Banilad, and Calindagan have adopted the Zero Waste program, she said.
Environmental groups that presented the report titled Dangerous Particulate Matter from the Pyrolysis Incinerator at the Central MRF in Dumaguete, include the WOW-Negros Oriental, in partnership with GAIA and the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
They will present it formally to the new set of City Councilors to call for “the immediate shutdown of the pyrolysis incinerator and the full enforcement of environmental and public health laws.
Emmanuel said they learned that a second pyrolysis machine is being eyed by the City to cope up with the volume of waste being brought to the central MRF.
The environmental groups are calling on the new City administration to expand the Zero-Waste program to all 30 barangays.
The organizers of the #BurnNotDumaguete campaign stressed that “this shift must be both equitable and sustainable” to protect the health and welfare of waste workers, waste pickers, and the communities.
Mayor Chiquiting Sagarbarria, meanwhile, said the City will look into the environmentalist group’s claims, and examine the City’s solid waste management operations.(Judy F. Partlow)
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Photo Caption: Members of the War on Waste Negros Oriental, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) conduct a press conference to present the findings of a new air quality study causing serious health risks from the pyrolysis incinerator at the Central MRF. (Photo by Melissa Alexandra Pal)
