“The proposed waste-to-energy pyrolysis incinerator in Feilding will not go ahead after the company, Bioplant NZ, withdrew its application. We are absolutely thrilled for the community, for the climate and for real zero waste solutions,” said Dorte Wray, General Manager of the Zero Waste Network.

“This proposal was shocking: it is a failed technology all over the world. It doesn’t work and it is incredibly toxic and polluting. The company came to prey on a small rural community, local Mana Whenua and a poorly resourced Council to sell them a dodgy deal. Due to the hard work of the community and Ngāti Kauwhata mobilising against this, the company’s dangerous application was exposed.”

“Expert evidence showed that Bioplant’s air data was from a facility in South Korea that was closed due to non-compliance with environmental regulations. The Council’s air, land, water and planning experts all said the application should not be approved. It should never have gotten as far as it did - the original application was so lacking in fundamental detail that it should have been rejected.”

“Waste-to-energy has no role in a transition to a circular economy. It is a linear disposal option just like landfill. We need to move beyond this simplistic conversation about ‘what to do with waste’ and start implementing solutions at the top of the waste hierarchy like repair, reuse and redesign.”

“Incineration is an outdated solution to waste. It creates new CO2 emissions at a time when we need to do everything we can to reduce our climate impacts. It is a false solution because it creates a market for waste to ‘feed the beast’ and undermines genuine waste minimisation.”

“Central government needs to start leading on this issue - they say that they want a circular economy but have done little to put in place the infrastructure, planning and policies to make this happen. Instead, they are leaving communities to fight off toxic proposals from multinational companies that undermine all our other efforts on waste.”

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