Protests seen at Beijing's plan to add incinerators | South China Morning Post | The number of waste incinerators will rise sharply under a national plan to boost investment in environmental protection industries, but environmental activists warn the move could lead to more mass protests as the public grows increasingly concerned about health impacts. The State Council announced on Sunday the environmental sector would become a "pillar industry". It set a 15 per cent annual growth target for energy-saving and environmental protection industries that would see turnover reach 4.5 trillion yuan (HK$5.7 trillion) by 2015. ...Waste incineration is often associated with high emissions of dioxin gases, which are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer, according to the World Health Organisation. ...Residents living close to two incinerators, in Hangzhou and Guangzhou, were already blaming them for rising cancer rates, but the local governments had not launched public inquiries into the claims. "As long as authorities fail to address these public concerns, the new push for the industry may lead to more mass protests in the years to come," Chen said. Mao said the lack of adequate supervision of incinerators said big new investment in them could result in a surge in emissions of dioxins and heavy metals, such as mercury. Some studies already confirmed such a trend of rising dioxin emissions between 2004 and 2010. "This actually violates the nation's pledge under various international environmental treaties to gradually cut emissions of dioxin and mercury," Mao said.