NGO seeks induction furnace ban

Environment group NGO SEEDS PH over the weekend called on local government units (LGUs) and concerned regulators to ban the use of obsolete and environmentally destructive induction furnaces (IFs) in steel smelting and production, similar to what was done in China and Pampanga.

Dona Cristino, SEEDS PH secretary-general, noted that IFs started to make their way into the Philippines immediately after they were banned by Beijing in 2017 for causing widespread air pollution in China.

She said that according to the investigation they have conducted, these IFs are now being operated by steel plants in different areas of the country, including Sta. Maria and Pulilan in Bulacan, Valenzuela and Cagayan de Oro.

“Worse, the reports we got revealed that these steel plants are being owned and operated by Mainland Chinese, using Filipinos as dummies. Practically, these Chinese operators just transferred their environmentally destructive operations here in the Philippines,” Cristino noted.

She said that the IFs are being operated by steel plants in different areas of the country, including Sta. Maria and Pulilan in Bulacan, Valenzuela and Cagayan de Oro.

A steel plant in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, for instance, has been operating with no updated environmental clearance certificate and permits to operate their pollution-control facilities, in violation of the Clean Air Act (RA 8749) and Clean Water Act (9275).

Not only that, Cristino said, the products being produced by these IFs do not conform with the Philippine National Standard, putting at risk the lives and properties of Filipinos, especially since the country is prone to strong typhoons and earthquakes.

She stressed that these plants are expected to produce substandard products because induction furnaces are not capable of removing impurities in steel smelting, thus making their quality inconsistent.

“So these IFs are like a double-whammy to us Filipinos: they destroy our environment and they produce substandard products,” Cristino said.