20 Inspiring Stories of Victory Against Incinerators
October 14, 2026
Over the past 25 years of GAIA, we have seen more than 375 incinerators shut down across the map. In this series for the Global Week of Action to Stop Incineration, we spotlight over 20 inspirational examples of communities emerging victorious against incinerators and incinerator proposals in their cities.
From passionate and informative representations at council meetings, to technical consultations with international finance institutions, to historic petition drives and gathering support from the international community, find out the key factors in the following victories against toxic false solutions around the world.
Asia Pacific
DUMAGUETE PYROLYSIS PLANT
Dumaguete, Philippines
Year Closed: 2025
Key factor to success: Power of community science and on-the-ground expertise and leadership of the members of the impacted communities, including waste workers, housewives, residents, students, and teachers in Dumaguete.
Case study and resources:
Members involved in the win: WOW, DWWA (Dumaguete Waste Workers Association), GAIA
WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANT PROPOSAL IN 4 CITIES
Gujarat, India
Year closed/stopped: 2025
Key factor to success:
1. Through analysis of the ESIA report and finding out how it violates World Bank’s performance standards
2. Amplifying local voices globally through collaboration and writing about the issue to the Board of Directors of the World Bank
3. Documenting the on ground impacts of the WTE company and its financial analysis.
Resources: Letter to World Bank, Collective letter signed by 174 organizations
Members involved in the win: Alliance for Incinerator Free Gujarat including CFA, IAP and communities affected
MULTI-COUNTRY INCINERATOR PROPOSAL
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, China and Hong Kong
Year closed/stopped: 2024
Key factor to success: Collective campaign efforts, including in strategic spaces like the AIIB Annual Meeting + Technical letter sent to AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) and raising concerns on the incinerator company’s association with corruption and pollution
Resources: Project Document from AIIB, Case feature on AIIB Observer
Members involved: Members in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam, China and Hong Kong, GAIA Asia Pacific
TE AWAMATU WASTE TO ENERGY PROPOSAL
Te Awamatu, Aotearoa New Zealand
Year Closed/Stopped: 2025
Key factors to success: Public opposition with over 900 written submissions + strong expert testimonies against the plant in the Board hearings
- Great community engagement
- Great coalition building between community, Māori and environmental organisations
- Relevant and highly qualified expert evidence at the hearings
Resources:
Members involved in the win: Zero Waste Aotearoa, Regeneration Not Incineration
MAPO RECOVERY FACILITY PROPOSAL
Mapo-gu, South Korea
Year Closed/Stopped: 2026
Key factors to success: Creation of an alliance to fight this incinerator proposal
- Residents’ determination and strong community organizing: Fierce opposition and persistence of the community was the driving force that kept the campaign going through to the end.
- Victory in the legal dispute: The community won a lawsuit by revealing procedural flaws.
- Broad civil society solidarity: The campaign built a broad coalition extending beyond the residents’ group, bringing together residents, civil society organizations, and the local district office.
Resources: Seoul City Scraps Mapo-gu Incineration Plant Plan https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/03/03/D2EWSGFRPVEDZH6R5PJZWZY26E/
Members involved in the win: Mapo Resource Circulation Network
Europe
ROUGHLY 200 INCINERATORS
Various locations, UK
Year Closed: since 2007
Key factor to success: Campaigners’ successes can be attributed to many factors, including:
- Deploying factual arguments supported by evidence including the harms caused by waste incineration
- The provision of advice, guidance, and networking support from an established nonprofit network – UKWIN
- Strong sustained public opposition that translates into political buy-in from local officials
Case study and resources:
Members involved in the win: UKWIN, local communities, partner organizations, and allied networks
MUNICIPAL WASTE INCINERATOR
Skalica, Slovakia
Year closed/stopped: 2026
Key factor to success:
- Early monitoring and information-gathering: tracking waste-management developments and gathering information about the project from the very beginning of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, allowing campaigners sufficient time to understand the proposal and respond effectively.
- Identifying and empowering affected local residents: finding active people in the community who could be directly affected by the project, engaging them through public meetings and information campaigns, and supporting them to become key local advocates.
- Providing sustained NGO and expert support: creating a forum where NGOs and experts could explain the project and its potential impacts to residents, local authorities, and community advocates, while emphasizing the patience and perseverance needed to sustain the campaign over time.
Resources:
You can find out more about our joint struggle here:
Relevant articles:
http://skalickyobzor.sk/cms/zo-skalickej-spalovne-je-medzinarodny-skandal/
http://skalickyobzor.sk/cms/podme-porovnat-oba-varianty-likvidacie-odpadu-ceh-zevo-kontra-mbu/
http://skalickyobzor.sk/cms/je-dokazane-uz-dnes-spalujeme-skalicky-odpad-v-cementarni-v-rohozniku/
Members involved in the win: local community, Priatelia Zeme – SPZ (Friends of the Earth – SPZ)
RDF-FUELLED INCINERATOR
Pavlikeni, Bulgaria
Year closed/stopped: 2026
Key factor to success:
- A united local community and support from local businesses: residents came together across their differences to protect the region’s clean environment, fertile agricultural land, and quality of life, with local businesses also supporting the campaign.
- Strong technical, legal, and scientific expertise: lawyers, biologists, ecologists, and other technical experts provided critical expertise, with environmental organization Za Zemiata supporting the campaign with knowledge and legal capacity.
- Unprecedented public mobilization and sustained perseverance: more than 20,000 people from the region signed a petition, generating significant media attention and demonstrating strong public opposition. Four years of legal battles required sustained perseverance, while Za Zemiata’s successful lawsuit against the Sofia incinerator helped maintain hope that the campaign could succeed.
Resources:
Members involved: Za Zemiata, impacted community, network of allies
Africa
DRAKENSTEIN MASS BURNING FACILITY
Drakenstein, South Africa
Year Stopped: 2016
Key factor to success: Local communities and organizations challenged the proposed US$25-million mass-burning project, including concerns around the involvement of foreign companies and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (US TDA).
Case study and resources:
Members involved in the win: Drakenstein Environmental Watch (DEW), Wellington Association Against the Incinerator (WAAI), groundWork, the South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA), GAIA, and community residents
MAURITIUS WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROJECT
La Chaumiere, Mauritius
Year closed/stopped:
Key factor to success: Highlighting the mismatch of the proposed 300,000-tonne Gamma Covanta waste-to-energy facility on an island where approximately 70% of waste is composed of green and kitchen waste.
Members involved in the win: Collectif des Opposants a l’Incineration de Dechets, DION & groundWork
MASS-BURNING FACILITY
Johannesburg, South Africa
Year closed/stopped: 2013
Key factor to success: Recognizing and following the lead of the 500 waste pickers, putting their voices and livelihoods at the center of the campaign.
Resources: March against killing jobs for dirty energy
Members involved: SAWPA, groundWork, and the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP)
OGIJO TYRE PYROLYSIS FACILITY (TECH HIGH PROFILE)
Ogijo, Nigeria
Year Closed/Stopped: 2025
Key factors to success: Citizen science filling the gap in official data to document pollution near the waste-burning facility.
Resources:
Members involved in the win: Affected communities, Green Knowledge Foundation
