Contents:
Regeneration not Incineration factsheets
Waste-to-energy is just burning rubbish (general info)
Waste-to-energy incinerators do not eliminate waste - in fact they generate it by transforming the original waste into new forms of waste: air pollution, climate emissions, ash and liquid discharge. Download here
Incinerators cause climate change
Incinerators are a cause of climate change. They emit more CO2 than natural-gas fired or oil-fired power plants and are not renewable energy. Download here
Te Ao Māori Perspectives on Waste-to-Energy
"Incineration does not align with our pae tawhiti which is centred on well- being and health: Oranga Taiao, Oranga Marae, Oranga Whānau"-Para Kore Download here
Incinerators will poison our air, land and water
Toxic air emissions & incinerator ash can contaminate our local food, land and water with mercury, lead, dioxins, furans, PFAS and more. Download here
Incinerators will create mountains of toxic ash
Incinerator ash contaminates communities with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - dioxins, furans, PFAS and PCBs; heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, thallium). Download here
Incinerators create air pollution
We’ll breath acid gases, toxic heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium) andpersistent organic pollutants (dioxins, furans & PFAS). Download here
Resource recovery beats incineration
Resource Recovery Centres (RRCs) beat incinerators as a solution for waste in every way: they create way more jobs while serving communities and keeping profits local. They don't pollute & are cheaper to build and maintain. Download here
Reports on different aspects of incineration
(NZ and worldwide)
International Pollutants Elimination Network September 2024 report “Waste incineration and the Environment”. Executive Summary and Full Report
Waste-to-Energy Technologies: Applications and Implications for Tāmaki Makaurau August 2023 Waste Solutions Infrastructure and Environmental Services Department, Auckland Council – prepared as background to 2024 WMMP process
Waste to energy technology implications in the Aotearoa New Zealand context: report prepared by Eunomia Consulting for the Waikato Regional Council & Tauranga City Council (2023)
Waste Gasification: Impacts on the environment and public health. A technical report by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League - read report
Climate impact of pyrolysis of waste plastic packaging in comparison with reuse and mechanical recycling: Commissioned by Zero Waste Europe and the Rethink Plastic alliance to the Öko-Institut, this study compares seven scenarios for the future of plastic packaging in the European Union (EU) from a climate perspective, following the projected amounts of recycled plastics needed by 2030.
Aotearoa/New Zealand-specific information
Hannah Blumhardt: “Waste to energy plants a bad answer to the wrong question”: Even a magical end-of-life solution to “get rid of” our rubbish wouldn’t erase the damage already done to create it. Avoiding that harm requires redesign of products and of production and consumption systems to reduce how much material we draw into the economy, slow down the pace at which those materials pass through the system, and ultimately stop making so much rubbish in the first place.
Waste-to-Energy: Sending zero waste up in flames: The Rubbish Trip does not support waste-to-energy ‘solutions’ for mixed household waste. We take this position while also advocating for a move away from landfills. How is that possible? Because we’re spending every iota of energy we have on advocating for a zero waste approach to waste. The zero waste approach to waste is pretty much the circular economy concept.
Why municipal waste-to-energy incineration is not the answer to NZ’s plastic waste crisis: Waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration has been raised as a solution. While turning plastic waste into energy may sound good, it creates more pollution and delays a necessary transition to a circular economy.
WasteMINZ Behaviour Change Sector Group is urging central government to take decisive action on the issue of Waste to Energy (WtE) by declaring a moratorium on any proposal of a WtE facility that aims to process municipal waste (including those that are currently being considered) until concerns are addressed
Environmentalists call for Government to reject incinerator proposals: The Zero Waste Network group’s launched a campaign petitioning Environment Minister David Parker to decline incinerator applications.
Tangata Whenua positions on incineration
Plastic pollution as waste colonialism in Aotearoa (New Zealand) by Matt Peryman, Romilly Cumming, Tina Ngata, Trisia A. Farrell, Sascha Fuller, Stephanie B. Borrelle. This study addresses waste colonialism through interviews with several specialists in the fields of plastic pollution, zero waste, circular economic development, and Indigenous sovereignty.
Para Kore’s position on incineration of waste: Para Kore opposes Waste to Energy as:
Creating and burning waste further perpetuates the linear model of consumption. It can also perpetuate the demand for waste as the investment spent for the WtE infrastructure will need to be returned in energy.
Incinerating waste creates poison in the atmosphere and is similar to creating a landfill in the sky. The process of burning waste emits Co2 into the atmosphere and creates toxic ashes and greenhouse gas which further perpetuates climate change and climate crisis.
Incinerating waste does not allow for waste to be reused or repurposed. In cases, it requires extensive transportation and shipping to a central point, creating unnecessary pollution into our atmosphere. We advocate for local systems to manage waste, reducing additional energy and pollution entering our environment as a result of transport.