“We are thrilled that this project is not going ahead. The community of Waimate and local iwi, Te Rūnanga o Waihao, have worked tirelessly to ensure that this toxic project never sees the light of day,” said Dorte Wray, General Manager of the Zero Waste Network.
“This incinerator project has no social license to operate. It would never get resource consent under normal conditions given its widespread air pollution and climate impacts. The project was included on the Fast Track list meaning that community concerns, human health and environmental considerations would all have been disregarded in favour of the company’s claimed economic benefits.”
“The Zero Waste Network does not support waste incineration because it locks us into the production of waste. Incinerators require huge capital investment that would be better spent building the waste minimisation infrastructure we need to actually solve our waste crisis and build in the reuse of valuable materials. Incinerators are the old ‘business-as-usual’ linear model of take-make-waste. They are not a realistic solution to the real challenges we face.”
“The use of the term ‘waste-to-energy’ is almost always an industry sales pitch for burning rubbish, and it represents some of the dirtiest forms of power on earth. A recent UK investigation revealed their so-called ‘waste to energy’ plants that were worse than coal fired power plants.”
“We pay our deep respects to all of the community of Waimate, to the people of Waihao marae, and to our allies in the movement for a zero waste, zero carbon Aotearoa NZ. We say ‘regenerate, don’t incinerate!’”
