In a communiqué signed by Joxemari Irazusta and several usurbildarras, the people of Usurbil "are firmly demonstrating that it is possible to manage our urban waste without incinerator in the last ten years" but "although nobody officially says so, we know that in the last few months the fraction of the waste collected in the town of Usurbil is taken to the incinerator". It is known that the General Waste Plan of Gipuzkoa obliges all municipalities to deliver the waste collected to their community, and that the GHK consortium manages all the waste from Gipuzkoa, with the incinerator being the main axis of the whole plan.

The neighbours have now reminded the City of Usurbil that the town clearly pronounced itself in a referendum against the incinerator and that the municipal authorities a few months ago spread SOS to the rest of the municipalities because they were going to harm the usurbildarras: "To appeal to other municipalities and then take our people's rejection of the incinerator, it is not consistent that it should be done. The giant columns of smoke that come out every day from the fireplaces in the incineration plant, bear a small part of the combustion of the waste we have sent from Usurbil. We're fueling that black, harmful, polluted future. We too are part of that failure.

For this reason, the collection of signatures will begin shortly to ask the municipal authorities not to let the rejections of the usurbildarras in the incinerator, however few thanks to a very good collection, pioneering in Euskal Herria: "The City of Usurbil and the usurbildarras have been a reference model for implementing effective selective collection and the time has now come to demonstrate that there are other alternatives for the treatment of waste. It's not time to fool. Because the only way not to go backwards is to move forward. In politics and in life, to open new paths, at least courage is needed."

The text reads as follows:

NO waste, NO money for the incinerator

Over the past ten years, the people of Usurbil have been profoundly demonstrating that without incineration it is possible to manage our urban waste. We pioneered the implementation of an effective selective collection (2009), demonstrating that in the people themselves you can make community composting with bio-waste (2011), and in addition to collecting well, saying that the right thing is to pay fairly according to the amount of waste each generates, and to implement it (2014). Given this result, the commitment expressed by the municipal government is as follows: “The City of Usurbil has taken over the word of the people. And, in representation of the will of the people, we will try to respect and enforce the word of the people to whom the ghost of the incinerator sows. It is up to us to do so with beliefs and coherence. And we will.”

Despite the fact that no one has officially said so, we know that the rejection of the people of Usurbil leads to the incinerator in recent months. In June 2017, Usurbil collected and approved the objectives and initiatives for the treatment of waste in the “Waste Prevention and Management Programme Usurbil 0.0”. The transfer of the remainder to the incinerator does not coincide with the objective of “dematerialising or incinerating 0 waste” contained in the programme and which is considered possible to obtain.

In this emergency situation that has arisen since the incinerator began, there are many usurbildarras who believe that the answer we have to give is not to bring the rejection to the incinerator. To appeal to other municipalities and then to take our people’s rejection of the incinerator is not consistent. The giant columns of smoke that come out every day from the fireplaces in the incineration plant, bear a small part of the combustion of the waste we have sent from Usurbil. We're fueling that black, harmful, polluted future. We too are part of that failure. By their side, we fuel this imposed infrastructure that nobody wants, knowing that it will cause damage to the health and the environment of today’s and tomorrow’s citizens. The fraudulent incinerator’s financing scheme, which has been set up to strike economically unjustly the countries in which a selective collection of waste is being carried out, is cooperating in this way. And what's more serious, we're using citizens' money to fund a monster that spreads. It is a contradiction.

The incinerator is also part of the temple of pollution, and it is not enough to be against the incinerator: the incinerator must be combated.

Given the low generation of rejection (430 tons), the municipal government stated that “nothing will go to the incineration plant of our people”. Being so little, it is easier to give this residue another way out. Usurbil 0.0 is included in the Waste Prevention and Management Programme (2017-2023): “We want to achieve excellence by putting a realistic and feasible approach on the table.” Among the basic features of the programme are the prioritization of the environment and health, the substitution of macro and gigantic infrastructures for tight and scalable infrastructures, local solutions to global problems.

As we had the courage to set in motion an alternative to make selective collection effective, the time has come to take firm steps not to cooperate with the incinerator: DO NOT TAKE OUR REJECTION OF WASTE INCINERATION. The City Council of Usurbil and the usurbildarras have been a reference model for implementing effective selective collection and the time has now come to show that there are other alternatives for the treatment of waste. It's not time to fool. Because the only way not to go backwards is to move forward. In politics and in life, in order to open up new paths, we need, at least, courage.

Thus, 98% of the citizens who participated in the popular consultation held in Usurbil in October 2016 would be faithful to their commitment not to incineration and to try to ensure that it is respected.

If health care and the quality of life of citizens are “ethical axes of the City Hall”, the least that should be done is not to collaborate with polluting and harmful infrastructures such as the incinerator.

The challenge is worth it, the future of our people is at stake. Therefore, in autumn we will launch a campaign to collect signatures to make a petition to the City Hall: “Incinerator: don’t feed on our waste, don’t pay for our money.” Pello Aranburu, Manex Zubiria, Miren Maioz, Joxe Mari Zubimendi, Juli Bereziartua, Patxi Azpirotz, Joxe Piñas, Pepe Rivadeneyra.