South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL), the joint venture company proposing to build an Energy-from-Waste plant at Glenavy in South Canterbury, known as Project Kea, today lodged its Resource Management Act (RMA) consent documents with Environment Canterbury (ECan) and the Waimate District Council (WDC).

The lodgement follows an earlier application made on 22 September, which was returned to SIRRL citing further information would be required for Ecan to consider it for the consent process.

SIRRL Director Paul Taylor says that the application is complex and highly technical, and he is confident that the additional information, including further expert evidence and data, will meet the assessment needs of local government officials and expert consultants for their consideration.

“If the application is accepted and resource consent approved, it would be the first facility of its kind to be built and safely operate in Aotearoa New Zealand. SIRRL has also reached out to iwi to work together on the proposed plant.

“New Zealand is fast growing out of options to safely dispose of waste,” Paul Taylor says.

“Minimisation of waste at source and recycling as much as possible need to be the major priorities for our nation, but we continue to face a growing waste crisis and its associated production of climate-changing methane emissions.

“Established dump sites are aging and failing, many near coastal townships, yet large tracks of land are being rendered unproductive as more landfill operations are being consented. We simply can’t continue to bury our amassing problem in the ground.

“Unlike methane-producing landfills, the proposed Energy-from-Waste plant is directly linked to what was highlighted at the recent COP 27 International Climate Change Conference. This confirmed Aotearoa New Zealand’s commitment to drastically reduce methane and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to start doing it yesterday.

“Energy-from-Waste technology has advanced considerably and quickly, and if we look to prosperous European Union members, over 22 countries there are as many as 497 plants safely converting non-hazardous waste from households, industry, and the building sector into an alternative energy source. In countries such as Austria, landfills are being banned altogether.”[1]

“We’ve also had extensive and beneficial discussions with local doctors, to further add depth to the information we’ve provided in the application, and to also answer concerns they recently raised given the newness of this technology to Aotearoa New Zealand. SIRRL has been grateful for their contribution, the time they’ve invested, and appreciate that the community still has questions that should, at least in part, be answered by the new application.

“In the meantime, the replies to those recent questions from GPs can be found here https://www.projectkea.co.nz/questionsandanswers

“SIRRL also looks forward to travelling to Glenavy and Waimate, to again meet with the community and discuss the project.

“Planning for this can recommence once today’s application for consent has been accepted for consideration by Ecan and the WDC,” Paul Taylor concluded.

[1] Source: www.balkangreenenergynews.com

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