“The decision not to uphold ECAN’s requirement for a cultural impact assessment (CIA) as part of lodging the resource consent application for a very large scale waste-to-energy incinerator in Waimate, South Canterbury, is disappointing,” said Dorte Wray, General Manager of the Zero Waste Network Aotearoa.

“We believe that any project of this magnitude must be undertaken in partnership with Mana Whenua, and with their explicit input and agreement at the outset. This waste-to-energy incinerator is a massive climate and environmental polluter with no benefits for Mana Whenua and the wider Waimate community, who will definitely be the people to carry all the risks.”

“This incinerator will turn Waimate into a dumping ground for 350,000 tonnes of South Island waste. In 2019, Waimate sent just 1280 tonnes of rubbish to landfill, at least 460 tonnes of which could have been diverted through better recycling and composting systems. To run the incinerator, SIRRL will have to bring in 348,719 tonnes of rubbish a year, or 955 tonnes per day. All of this ends up as toxic ash and air emissions.”

“This incinerator is not the way to do Te Tiriti partnerships at a time when we are faced with unprecedented climate impacts. Those most impacted by climate change need to be front and centre of decision-making. This community is already under severe environmental pressure with excessively high nitrate contamination of their drinking water. ”

“The company, SIRRL, and this project has checkered history. There is widespread opposition to the project in the community. The failure to secure an appropriate CIA in advance of lodging the application just adds to the list of problems this project brings.”

The Zero Waste Network is a national, not-for-profit umbrella organisation. It leads the Regeneration Not Incineration campaign supporting communities resisting the building of incinerators.

“This is just the beginning of a very long fight for SIRRL. The Zero Waste Network will continue to support the community to resist this toxic project for as long as it takes to stop it”

For a detailed history of SIRRL’s project, see our campaign page here

The main Regeneration Not Incineration campaign page is here.