Waste-to-energy plant: Auckland’s landfill alternative?

A bill introduced in Parliament last month proposes the establishment of a permanent fast-track approvals regime for projects of national and regional significance.

 

Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants generate energy from burning rubbish at high temperatures. The method is widely used in Europe and elsewhere, attracting both enthusiastic support and strong opposition.

 

Last July, representatives of the aspiring developer of a large WtE plant on the South Island made a presentation at a strategic workshop in Mangawhai, attended by chief executives and elected members from all the Northland councils.

 

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) board director Paul Taylor confirmed the company had supplied data for a feasibility study on the potential of such a facility.

 

“At this point, it is only a feasibility study and the next steps will be made by the mayors in consultation with their councils and communities,” he said.

The consent process for SIRRL’s own planned project in South Canterbury was taken over by the Environmental Protection Authority last spring, after then-Environment Minister David Parker agreed the application was of national significance. A final decision will be taken by the Environment Court.

 

In a recent mayoral message, Jepson underscored his long-held support for WtE.

 

“As a proponent for waste-to-energy solutions, I’ve long championed their potential,” he wrote. “Landfills are not a sustainable option, and I firmly believe that establishing a waste-to-energy plant here in Kaipara could significantly benefit our community.

 

“Beyond waste reduction, a plant could create local job opportunities, and contribute to affordable base load electricity, recovered aggregates and metals.”

Jepson stressed that any WtE plant in Kaipara would be privately-owned and not come at a cost to ratepayers.

 

“While it won’t be a council project, these early discussions we are driving through our cross-council conversations reflect our business-friendly and forward-thinking approach to support the economy of our district.”

 

A KDC spokesperson said the dialogue with councils was continuing, including discussions with neighbours in Auckland Council’s Rodney ward. There had been “no further developments of note” since the strategic workshop in July 2023.

 

Auckland Rodney Ward Councillor Greg Sayers said he and Mayor Wayne Brown met in February with Jepson, who raised his desire for a WtE plant in the Kaipara district.

 

They had explained that Auckland Council has programmes in place to try to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, and that the operators of any WtE plant would need to calculate the volume of waste from Auckland that could be processed, and thus be diverted from landfill. 

 

Sayers said council’s general manager for waste solutions Parul Sood had been introduced to Jepson to discuss those projected figures.

 

Debates around converting waste to electricity have swirled for years. A proposal to transform a decommissioned coal-fired power station in Meremere into a WtE facility sparked an 18-month resource consent battle with Waikato local authorities before eventually being abandoned in 1999. Jepson was a spokesperson for that project.

 

More than 2500 WtE plants operate around the world, and in Europe more waste is incinerated than goes to landfill. Proponents contend that the process is environmentally beneficial, since it releases significantly less carbon and methane into the atmosphere than waste rotting in landfills. The ash produced can be repurposed for road aggregate, they say.

 

Opponents counter that dioxins in the fly ash pose a health hazard, that the stream of trucks bringing municipal waste to burn would add to greenhouse gas emissions, and that the need for a steady supply of “feedstock” to make a WtE plant commercially viable discourages recycling and “zero waste” initiatives.

 

Auckland Council’s draft waste management and minimisation plan, recently out for public consultation, alluded to likely public opposition to WtE, saying that despite air quality improvements in the process, the establishment of such a facility in Auckland was “not expected to receive strong political or community support”.