Opponents rejoice as Feilding waste

A proposal for a waste-to-energy plant in Feilding has been withdrawn by its backers, much to the relief of opponents who fear its "toxic" impact on the environment.

Commissioners adjudicating on an air discharge permit application from Bioplant NZ for a pyrolysis plant in Feilding were notified on Wednesday that the application was being withdrawn.

This means reconvened hearings, scheduled for July, will not go ahead, and commission chair Mark St Clair has confirmed the matter was now closed.

Bioplant had been seeking to build the plant next to Manawatū District Council's transfer station on Kawakawa Rd in Feilding, claiming rubbish previously destined for the landfill would be converted into diesel, electricity and charcoal through a process called pyrolysis.

READ MORE: * Reconvened hearing for Feilding waste-to-energy plant proposal shocks critics * Unclear and insufficient: Horizons has final say on pyrolysis plant proposal * Expert withdraws support for pyrolysis plant due to unreliable data

However, opponents submitted it would create environmental problems and was contrary to zero-waste goals.

Zero Waste Network general manager Dorte Wray said having learnt of the withdrawal, members were "absolutely thrilled for the community, for the climate and for real zero-waste solutions".

"This proposal was shocking: it is a failed technology all over the world. It doesn't work and it is incredibly toxic and polluting."

She said the proposal should never have got as far as it did, as the original application was "so lacking in fundamental detail that it should have been rejected".

A key blow to the venture was the withdrawal of support from chemical engineer Andrew Curtis in January. He cited insufficient information and fundamental errors in modelling, and this in turn contributed to Horizons Regional Council recommending the application be declined.

There were too many unknowns about the environmental impact, due to insufficient and disparate information from the applicant, lead consents planner Bryony Huirua said.

Wray said waste-to-energy had no role in a transition to a circular economy, and incineration was an outdated solution to waste.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.

"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."

The Ministry for the Environment defined pyrolysis as heating waste without exposure to oxygen, to create gas, liquid and solid material.

Bioplant already had agreements with Manawatū District Council to lease land and be supplied with waste, but these were conditional on resource consent being secured.

Stuff has approached Bioplant for comment.