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SIRRL lodged a resource consent application with Waimate District Council and Environment Canterbury in September 2022.  The application was rejected due to a lack of information, including a cultural impact assessment report (CIA).SIRRL has now relodged their resource consent application again without a site-specific CIA. The second application comes just days before new RMA requirements come into force, ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are taken into account when processing applications made after the December 2nd cutoff.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) confirmed it had returned South Island Resource Recovery Limited’s (SIRRL) resource consent application due to “insufficient information” being supplied regarding the proposed activities of the plant and their effect on the environment. ECan consents planning manager Aurora Grant explained the “key concern” held by the council was a “lack of information regarding the scale and potential effects of the proposed activity.” “This is a very large proposal. It’s the first of its kind and scale in New Zealand and one that includes many activities that could impact the environment,” Grant said. Read ECan’s S88 respone in full below. S88 response

“Dioxins(a group of three main families including dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB’s) are considered to include the most toxic synthetic chemicals known, and they are always produced in burning municipal and hospital waste. They cause cancer, birth defects and immune damage.” – Doctor Crispin Langston, Waimate GP. Langston’s immediate concern, should the plant be constructed, is for the town of Glenavy and its school just 2.5 kilometres south of the site. “The northeaster is the prevailing wind in the area, and that will take all the toxins and pollution from the plant straight over Glenavy. “The long term concern are the dioxins produced by the plant, which are very resistant and do not break down easily, and they accumulate.” Langston said dioxins (a group of 3 main families including dioxin, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs) are considered to include the most toxic synthetic chemicals known, and they are always produced in burning of municipal and hospital waste. “They cause cancer, birth defects and immune damage.” Read Article Read More on Doctors Concerns Dr Crispin Langston is the spokeperson for the group of five Waimate GP’s who oppose the ‘Project Kea’ waste to energy plant. “Having considered various claims about the proposal for a waste burning plant,” the local doctors said that “the issues of risk to health have not been fully recognised.  On current information then, this project would be best described as a waste to poisons plant.” Read Full Doctor’s letter

“We’re not sure we want our children to face health risks in order to give everyone else in the South Island the convenience of burning their rubbish.” Glenavy has 126 pupils, 2.5km downwind of the proposed incinerator. “Overseas evidence shows that the construction of such facilities does not encourage recycling, reusing, or reducing rubbish, which we believe are more sustainable, future-oriented alternatives to incineration.” “We believe that only initiatives to encourage individuals to take personal responsibility for their waste can solve New Zealand’s increasing waste problem.” Read More

“We’re not sure we want our children to face health risks in order to give everyone else in the South Island the convenience of burning their rubbish.” Glenavy has 126 pupils, 2.5km downwind of the proposed incinerator. “Overseas evidence shows that the construction of such facilities does not encourage recycling, reusing, or reducing rubbish, which we believe are more sustainable, future-oriented alternatives to incineration.” “We believe that only initiatives to encourage individuals to take personal responsibility for their waste can solve New Zealand’s increasing waste problem.” Read More

The company behind a proposed waste incinerator near Waimate has been making misleading claims to the community. They have been assuring us that they will recover aggregate from the residue ash and recycle it for use as roading and construction material. However, the company’s resource consent application reveals its true plan for the 100,000 tonnes of toxic ash produced yearly—LANDFILL IT! The company have lodged a resource consent application with Waimate District Council and Environment Canterbury (ECan). The application states that the company intends to landfill 100,000 tonnes of ash annually for 35 years. The company has also said that they plan to recover aggregate from the ash and use it as a roading or construction material in the future; however, current regulations in NZ don’t allow this, so landfilling is the only option available to them. This significant fact was omitted from the company’s promotional material for 18 months before lodging resource consent.   “New Zealand is in the middle of a landfill waste crisis. Many of the South Island’s landfills are older, overpacked and failing. The breakdown of these landfills is happening now – we cannot leave this problem for the next generation to deal with.”— Paul Taylor, South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) Board Director. The above text was taken from SIRRL’s Project Kea website. SIRRL don’t seem to have a problem with burying toxic ash and leaving that for the next generation to deal with.   

Project Kea’s incineration of waste and energy recovery will demand a significant 2.5 million litres of fresh water consumption each day, 365 days a year, for a staggering 35 years. This equates to a shocking 32 BILLION litres of fresh water being used up.  The plant’s operations will also result in the consumption of large amounts of diesel,  chemicals, additives, and filters, all in an attempt to mitigate the toxic emissions it will produce. All this, for what could be considered a negligible amount of electricity. Despite the company’s name suggesting resource recovery, the reality is far from it. In the case of Project Kea, it’s more about resource destruction than recovery.

The company behind a waste-to-energy plant in Waimate wants to stockpile 45,000 tonnes of baled waste on-site, 100,000 litres of diesel, numerous hazardous substances stored in bulk, and an internal rubbish bunker with a further 7,000-tonne capacity. Just one rogue vape battery and you have a recipe for a huge disaster.South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) are a 60% Chinese-owned company. The remaining 40% is owned by NZ company Renew Energy Limited (REL)REL has been responsible for two previous proposals on the West Coast of the South Island. Both of these proposals also included The same Chinese-owned company, China Tianying (CNTY)When mooting the Westport proposal, REL lodged a resource consent application to store 132,000 tonnes of baled waste in Reefton. The stockpiled waste would be used to fuel a waste-to-energy plant. The Reefton residents rallied against the proposal and hired a QC to fight it, with REL subsequently backing down. The residents feared that the company might never gain resource consent for the plant and could walk away, leaving behind a huge pile of rubbish. REL’s History Of Illegally Stockpiling Waste. REL and SIRRL director Paul Taylor sent heads of agreement to the Timaru District Council to attempt to stockpile 50-70,000 bales of waste at the Redruth landfill to fuel the Waimate W-t-E plant.  There have also been several other instances in and around Christchurch where REL and a company called ERP Group illegally stored waste in an attempt to stockpile waste for the proposed Waimate incinerator. This resulted in ERP Group being placed into liquidation and walking away, leaving its landlords with 10,000 tonnes of baled waste. The waste eventually caught fire before being trucked away and landfilled. The cleanup was estimated to cost several million, falling on the landowners.   This highlights two major concerns held by the Reefton residents; The potential for a catastrophic fire is a major concern. SIRRL is proposing to store 45,000 tonnes of waste on-site for Project Kea. Waimate lacks the resources to extinguish a fire of this magnitude. When you factor in the 100,000 litres of Diesel and the substantial quantities of hazardous substances stored on site, the risk of a significant disaster becomes all too real. If the company proceeds with waste stockpiling and the plant is never commissioned or fully completed, or if the company is forced to shut down for any reason, the financial burden of the cleanup will fall on the community. SIRRL’s resource consent application states that REL will be responsible for supplying waste for Project Kea. REL’s history of storing waste illegally in Belfast, North Canterbury, speaks for itself.

Despite assuring the Waimate community that they would not submit a resource consent application until they had addressed residents’ concerns, the company has done just that. The full scope of this company’s plans is now clear. They intend to stockpile vast amounts of waste, build the plant in a flood-prone area, and use a staggering 2.5 million litres of fresh water daily, 365 days a year. They also plan to landfill 100,000 tonnes of toxic ash and have 136 heavy truck and trailer units arriving each day to deposit waste on site. Learn More