A large-scale rubbish incinerator has been included in the list of projects to go into Schedule 2 of the Coalition Government’s Fast Track Bill.
South Island Resource Recovery Limited’s (SIRRL) resource consent application proposal to establish an incinerator near Waimate in South Canterbury had already been called in and referred to the Environment Court so that the incinerator’s impacts could be properly considered.(1)
“We are concerned that including the Incinerator in the Fast Track project list will mean this process gets short circuited,” says Sue Coutts from the Zero Waste Network.
“This large incinerator proposal is the first of its type in New Zealand so it is critical that all the impacts are properly considered.”
“Cutting through ‘red and green tape’ doesn’t make economic or practical sense if it leaves us with a legacy of contaminated sites, land and water pollution and communities afflicted with long term health problems and cost obligations.” said Sue Coutts.
“Incinerators create CO2 emissions, pollute land, air and water sources, have serious effects on human health and impact primary production. They also lock communities into long term contracts to cover their capex and operational costs.”
“Developing our economy and addressing our infrastructure deficit has to go hand in hand with making sure new development is safe and affordable for families, communities and primary producers.”
“This incinerator will emit dioxins which can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.(2) These will settle on surrounding communities and farmland, potentially travelling hundreds of kilometres downwind. In France, whole regions have been warned by French Health Authorities about food contamination from incinerator-produced dioxins.”(3)
“The incinerator will burn 365,000 tonnes of material each year including materials that are recyclable, reusable and compostable.(4) The Waimate community only produces 1280 tonnes of waste each year (5), so large volumes of rubbish will be trucked in, it is likely that some of this will come from overseas.(6)
“New development has to help us meet existing commitments like New Zealand’s emissions reductions targets. Incinerators burn large amounts of plastic which is made from oil. They also require fossil fuel inputs to keep the incineration process going so running a large incinerator would create a large new source of CO2 emissions in the waste sector.”
“A small amount of heat and energy would be created by an incinerator but this is not renewable energy so it does not help decarbonise our economy.”
“Denmark is starting to shut down its incinerators having realised that it cannot meet its emissions reduction targets while burning large volumes of domestic and imported rubbish and recycling.”
“Taking a sound approach to regional development means looking beyond the Company’s sales pitch to understand the real impacts of proposals on families, communities and the local economy. Several iterations of this project have already been put up for consideration and rejected due to concerns about impacts, feasibility and process. (7)”
“SIRRL’s incinerator proposal has been shoehorned into the Schedule 2 list but it is not a good fit. Incineration is a disposal method not a form of resource recovery. Focusing on establishing effective product stewardship schemes and reducing waste at source are constructive ways to address the waste and resource recovery sector’s infrastructure deficit.” said Sue Couttts.
“Communities and businesses want infrastructure that helps them to achieve their waste and emissions reduction goals. It is so frustrating to see these Zombie projects lurching back to life time and time again when the evidence from existing incineration facilities overseas clearly shows the negative effects on human health, primary production and emissions reductions.”
- See the Environmental Protection Agency page on the Waimate process so far: https://www.epa.govt.nz/public-consultations/in-progress/waimate-waste-to-energy-plant/
- Dioxins are a group of chemically related compounds that are persistent environmental pollutants (POPs) including. The main source of dioxins is waste incineration. See World Health Organisation Fact Sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dioxins-and-their-effects-on-human-health
- See Ian Smith. “Millions in France warned not to eat eggs from backyard chickens due to forever chemical pollution. “Euro News. 21 November 2023.
- Evidence indicates that more than half of what is currently being incinerated could have been recycled or composted. See Understanding the carbon impacts of Waste to Energy incineration. Zero Waste Europe. https://zerowasteeurope.eu/2020/03/understanding-the-carbon-impacts-of-waste-to-energy/
- See Gina Dempster. “Rubbish Plan” Otago Daily Times 18 October 2021. https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/rubbish-plan
- In July, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis refused a recommendation that only South Island waste be allowed to be used as part of the Overseas Investment Office approval. Instead she said she was happy to leave it to the Environment Court, yet she would have known at that stage that it wasn’t going to the Court and would instead be fast tracked. See David Williams, “ Willis overrules advice on waste-to-energy facility Newsroom 31 July 2024 https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/07/31/willis-over-ruled-advice-on-waste-to-energy-facility/
- See Benedict Collins. “Experts warned govt not to touch waste-to-energy scheme” Radio NZ. 4 April 2018. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/354039/experts-warned-govt-not-to-touch-waste-to-energy-scheme
The project has been around for almost a decade with Shane Jones approving giving the company $350,000 of taxpayer money in 2018 to do a feasibility study despite being told that it was an economic and environmental loser. At the time, the National Party’s Paul Goldsmith said Mr Jones’ cavalier attitude to public money was disturbing. Jones was only stopped from the cash giveaway because he was alerted the company director was being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That person, Gerard Gallagher, was convicted of corruption just last year.