A better way to get rid of our non-recyclable waste

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

A concept image of the proposed $350 million waste-to-energy plant north of Glenavy, in the Waimate District.

Mike Yardley is a Christchurch-based writer on current affairs and travel. He is a regular opinion contributor.

OPINION: After a month away in the Middle East and Europe, it’s great to be back home to the bracing air and frosty mornings in Canterbury.

I’ve been keenly following the simmering debate over Project Kea, the PR try-hard brand name for the proposed $350 million waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in South Canterbury.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) is planning to construct New Zealand’s first large-scale WtE plant just north of the Waitaki River, in Glenavy. The location is also handily situated for waste to be transported by rail.

And the project has moved one step closer to reality this month with the Overseas Investment Office granting approval for SIRRL to purchase a 15 hectare block of land on Morven Glenavy Rd.

The company is a joint venture between Renew Energy and China Tianying Inc, the majority shareholder, which operates more than 400 waste-processing facilities in 34 countries.

Land Information Minister Chris Penk and Associate Finance Minister David Seymour oversaw the approval process, while Finance Minister Nicola Willis did not consider it contrary to New Zealand’s national interest.

Subject to receiving the necessary resource consents, the Glenavy facility is intended to convert municipal and construction solid waste into steam, water and electricity, from 365,000 tonnes of rubbish annually.

Project Kea envisages about 300 people would be employed on the plant’s construction, with 100 long-term jobs for the plant’s operations.

SIRRL is also engaged in the planned WtE facility for the upper North Island, championed by Kaipara District Council.

Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson is hopeful that the proposed $730m plant might be picked up by the Government’s fast-track consenting process.

But the Glenavy WtE project is the first cab off the rank. The Environmental Protection Authority is managing the consent application process, with the final decisions resting with the Environment Court.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) director Paul Taylor speaks at a public meeting March 2023 in regards to the proposed waste-to-energy plant near Glenavy.

Unsurprisingly, strident local opposition to the proposed plant has seen the formation of community group Why Waste Waimate, with a vast coterie of Zero Waste activists hitching their wagon to the resistance campaign.

But many of their key objections are simply outdated, misleading or rely on fearmongering. One of the biggest claims from opponents is that WtE plants are a sunset industry falling out of global favour, particularly in Europe.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The German-based environmental technology consultancy giant Ecoprog reports that there are now more than 2700 WtE plants worldwide, projected to exceed 3000 in the next eight years.

Dubai has just opened the world’s largest WtE facility, consuming 45% of the emirate’s total waste, and powering 135,000 homes in the process. Three new WtE plants are currently being built in Australia.

It was while visiting Scandinavia some years ago that I first became enamoured with WtE plants, particularly given their game-changing advances in tackling pollution.

The claims that WtE facilities can be injurious to public health or poison farmland may have carried weight several decades ago, but they are totally disingenuous today, given the extraordinary developments in waste incineration technology.

If you’ve been to Copenhagen, you may well have noticed that iconic WtE plant with the ski slope on its roof, Amager Bakke.

Not only was it a leader in blitzing the risk of harmful toxins being emitted from the plant, but its technological breakthroughs have now cracked the holy grail of carbon neutrality.

Zero Waste activists also decry WtE plants for undermining recycling efforts. But that doesn’t bear scrutiny. The recycling rate in Germany is 67%, despite having more than 150 WtE plants.

Mike Yardley: “I believe WtE plants are best geared at eliminating our non-recyclable waste.”

Singapore operates four WtE plants, but recycles 60% of its waste. Only 1% of their waste ends up in landfill.

In New Zealand, nearly 75% of our waste is trucked to the landfill (13 million tonnes annually), with only 25% of the waste stream recycled. And nearly half of our recycled paper and plastic is shipped off to Asia for processing. How is that climate-friendly?

Yes, encouraging greater recycling is laudable, but I believe WtE plants are best geared at eliminating our non-recyclable waste, rather than dumping it underground.

Kate Valley Landfill’s consent only has 16 years to run. Glenavy’s proposed WtE plant deserves a fair hearing as pragmatically providing the solution to the Mainland’s long-term waste management challenges.

This article has been amended to correct a reference to China Tianying Inc operating more than 400 waste-processing facilities, not waste-to-energy plants. Correction made June 11, 2024.