The Oaxaca Congress has once again demonstrated its commitment to protecting the environment by endorsing a permit review request submitted by the La Cruz Azul Cooperative, company that owns the Lagunas cement plant located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
This plant is authorized to use plastic as fuel until October 2029, and Congress considers it imperative that this authorization be evaluated by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).
Various organizations such as the Malditos Plásticos Collective, Greenpeace Mexico, Break Free From Plastic and GAIA have supported this request and are asking that the review be extended to the other 33 cement plants in the country that have authorization to use plastic as fuel.
In addition, they demand that epidemiological studies be carried out to document the possible damage to health caused by polluting emissions from these plants, according to Greenpeace information.
The backing of Oaxacan Congress is based on the findings of an investigation carried out by the Malditos Plásticos Collective, GeoComunes and Geografía Septentrional, which revealed a 121% increase in exports of toxic and contaminated plastic garbage to Mexico between 2018 and 2021.
Most of this plastic waste comes from USA. In addition, it is pointed out that there is no regulation in Mexico for the use of waste-derived fuel (CDR), which allows the indiscriminate burning of plastics without legal consequences.
The signatory organizations urge Semarnat to urgently respond to the request of the Oaxacan Congress and to extend the review to all cement plants in the country that use plastic as fuel.
They believe that these technologies emit dangerous chemicals that threaten the health of nearby communities.
Likewise, the social movements demand the elimination of dirty technologies such as incineration and co-processing of waste, the prohibition of single-use plastics throughout the national territory and the drastic reduction in the production of plastics.
It seeks to prevent Mexico from continuing to bear the polluting load of garbage and waste from other countries, in what is called “garbage colonialism.”
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