The Zero Waste Network is supporting community members in Feilding, Manawatū who are picketing outside the Horizons Regional Council to oppose an incinerator in their community, and to demand public participation in the consenting process.

The Council will decide this week whether the application will be publicly notified, allowing anyone with an interest in the proposal to have a say. 

Zero Waste Network spokesperson Sue Coutts says, “Incineration is not a solution for our waste or climate crises. It is just the same as a landfill: a linear disposal option that pollutes the environment and wastes valuable resources.”

“The proposed incinerator uses pyrolysis, a two-stage process that takes plastic waste and turns it into fuel that is burned. The burning releases cancer-causing dioxins into the air, water and soil. This proposal will create about two tonnes a day of residual toxic char, and it will add greenhouse gas emissions to the climate.”

“We don’t have any municipal waste incinerators in New Zealand right now. This proposal would be the very first of its kind which is one of the reasons why it is so important that the council publicly notify this application. The impacts and implications of these technologies are not widely understood. Similar facilities in Europe have closed down due to technological failures, emissions and the requirements to dispose of hazardous wastes.”

“In order to have the best outcome for the community, a publicly notified process is essential.”

“People in Feilding, and across the country, want  genuine waste minimisation projects that move the community towards creating less waste in the first place. They don’t want  expensive, false solutions that lock us into producing more waste to feed the incinerator, and lock local Councils into long term contracts to provide rubbish.”