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‘We have a right to breathe clean air’: the emerging environmental justice movement against waste incineration in cement kilns in Spain

  • Special Feature: Case Report
  • The EJAtlas: Ecological Distribution Conflicts as Forces for Sustainability
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Abstract

Waste is increasingly being used as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels in cement kilns worldwide. This has led to the emergence of socio-environmental conflicts in many countries in which local groups articulate a common struggle against the cement industry, a new target within the international anti-incineration movement. This case report aims at characterising this emerging movement against waste incineration in cement kilns in Spain and explores its main four discursive dimensions in relation to the concept of environmental justice. We argue that the movement against waste incineration in cement kilns is incipient and growing in Spain, and it uses a distinctive vocabulary to refer to the environmental justice dimension of the struggle.

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Fig. 1

Source FLACEMA 2016

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Notes

  1. Reports on most of these events can be found at https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/zwe-blog/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genøk-Center of Biosafety, Siva innovasjonssenter Tromsø, 9294, Tromsø, Norway

    Amaranta Herrero

  2. Global Alliance Anti-Incineration (GAIA), Zero Waste Europe, 81 Hunmanby Avenue, Manchester, M15 5FF, UK

    Mariel Vilella

Authors
  1. Amaranta Herrero
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  2. Mariel Vilella
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Correspondence to Amaranta Herrero.

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Handled by Federico Demaria, icta uab, Spain.

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Herrero, A., Vilella, M. ‘We have a right to breathe clean air’: the emerging environmental justice movement against waste incineration in cement kilns in Spain. Sustain Sci 13, 721–731 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0473-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0473-x

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