“We are pleased that Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds has called in the resource consent application to build a waste incinerator in Te Awamutu. This is the right decision to ensure all factors are taken into account and that stakeholders have a say,” said Sue Coutts of the Zero Waste Network Aotearoa.

The Minister announced that the application will be heard by a board of inquiry. Under the Resource Management Act (RMA), the Minister may call in applications that have aroused significant public concern or that are of national significance.

“This incinerator proposal meets the RMA criteria in part because of the massive climate change emissions that would be created by burning millions of tyres and thousands of tonnes of plastics each year.”

The Ministry for the Environment’s advice says the incinerator would produce 145-165kt/CO2e per year, an amount that the agency says is “significant on a national level”.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s advice is that the incinerator emissions would “contribute to significant changes in the environment including the global environment.”

“This incinerator also meets the threshold because of the significant community opposition. The proposed location is in a residential area, on a floodplain, and next door to schools, medical facilities and food producing businesses.”

The incinerator would release dioxins, some of the most harmful substances known to science, that are responsible for severe health problems including type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, infertility and an acne-like skin disease called chloracne, a hallmark of dioxin exposure. Dioxins are known to be a human carcinogen.

The incinerator would also release heavy metals and sulphur dioxide emissions adding respiratory and neurological health conditions to the list of impacts.

“We want to thank the Minister for this decision, along with Te Whakakitenga o Waikato, Te Nehenehenui, community group Don’t Burn Waipā and the two councils, Waikato Regional Council and Waipā District Council, for supporting the call in of this application.”

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